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Copyriglil     1  !l  1  1    by    Klla    Ituclianaii. 

I'lIK    SUFFRAGIST    AKOl  SIXG    HER    SISTERS. 
By  Ella  Buchanan,  Sculptress. 


THE  WOMAN  CITIZEN'S 
LIBRARY 


A  Systematic  Course  of  Reading  in  Preparation 
for  the  Larger  Citizenship 


Editor 

SHAILER  MATHEWS,  D.  D. 

Dean  Divinity  School,  The  University  of  Chicago 
President,   Western  Economic  Society 


TWELVE  VOLUMES  •  FULLY  ILLUSTRATED 


THE   CIVICS   SOCIETY 

CHICAGO 


Copyright  1914  by 
THE   CIVICS   SOCIETY 


VOLUME  VII 


Woman  Suffrage 


List  of  Articles 


A  WORLD  REVIEW  OF  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 
By  MRS.  CARRIE  CHAPMAN  CATT 

President  The  International  Woman  Suffrage  Alliance,  New  York 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 
BY  MISS  MARY  GREY  PECK,  A.  M. 

Former  Headquarters  Secretary 
National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Association,  New  York 


MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE  IN  THE  UNITED 

STATES 

By  A.  B.  WOLFE,  PH.  D. 

Professor  of  Economics  and  Sociology,   Oberlin  College, 
Oberlin,  Ohio. 

(over) 


335999 


THE  POLITICAL  STATUS  OF  WOMEN  IN 
THE  UNITED  STATES 

By  MISS  BERTHA  REMBAUGH 

Author  "The  Political  Status  of  Women,"   New  York 


THE  GREATEST  FOE  OF  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE; 
THE  ORGANIZED  LIQUOR  TRAFFIC 

By  MRS.  KATHERINE  LENT  STEVENSON 

President   Massachusetts   Woman's   Christian   Temperance   Union, 

Boston 


FACTS  AND  FIGURES  CONCERNING 
EQUAL  SUFFRAGE 

By  MRS.  FLORENCE  BENNETT  PETERSON 

Corresponding  Secretary  Illinois  Equal  Suffrage  Association,  Cliicago 

^<5 


VOLUME  VII 

TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

Px\RT  I 

PAGE 

A  World  Review  of  Woman  Suffrage 1587 

PART  II 
'  Woman  Suffrage  in  the  United  States 1641 

PART  III 
• ,  -Manhood  Suffrage  in  the  United  States 1687 

PART  IV 

V 

-VThe  Present  Political  Status  of  Women  in  the  United 

States    1737 

PART  V 

The  Greatest  Foe  of  Woman  Suffrage:  The  Organized 

Liquor    Traffic 1760 

Questions  for  Review  and  Subjects  for  Special  Study. .  .  .1781 

PART  VI 

Facts  and  Figures  Concerning  Equal  Suffrage 1786 

Progress  of  Equal  Suffrage  in  the  World 1787 

Growth  of  Alunicipal   Suffrage 1791 

Growth  of  School   Suffrage 1791 

Where  Women  Have   Full  Suffrage 1792 

Table  of  Woman  Suffrage  Dates 1793 

International  Woman  Suffrage 1796 

The   L'nited  States 1796 

Status  of  Suffrage  in  the  United  States 1799 

How  Women  Can  Obtain  the  Political  Franchise.  ..  1800 

How  Women  May  Obtain  Limited  Franchise 1801 

Procedure  for  Constitutional  Amendment 1803 

Suffrage   Constitutional  Amendments 1804 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Equal  Suffrage  and   Congress 1808 

Legal  Status  of  Mothers  in  the  Guardianship  of  Chil- 
dren    1809 

Facts  Concerning  the  Full  Suffrage  States 1814 

Wyoming    1814 

Colorado    1815 

Idaho    1819 

Utah    1820 

California    1820 

Washington     1823 

Kansas    1824 

Arizona    1825 

Oregon    1825 

Alaska  1825 

Facts  Concerning  the  State  Having  Limited  Suffrage. 1826 

Illinois    1826 

Canada;    British    Honduras 1828 

European    Countries 1831 

Finland,    Norway 1831 

Sweden,  Denmark,  Iceland,  Isle  of  Man 1832 

Great  Britain  and  Ireland 1833 

Germany,  Austria,  Bohemia,  Netherlands,  Switz- 
erland     1836 

France,  Belgium,  Italy 1837 

Spain,   Portugal,   Russia 1838 

Bulgaria    1839 

Servia,   Hungary,   Roumania 1840 

Turkey,  Greece,  Montenegro 1841 

Australia  and  New  Zealand 1841 

New  Zealand 1841 

Australia   1843 

New  South  Wales,  Tasmania,  Queensland 1844 

Victoria    1845 

Asia   1845 

Burmah,  India,  Java,   China 1845 

Africa    1846 

Transvaal,  Cape  Colony 1846 

Orange  River  Colony 1847 

Summary    1847 

Disenfranchised  Classes  in  the  United  States 1848 

Organized  Demand  for  Suffrage 1849 

Number  of  Men  Who  Vote 1849 

Number  of  Women  of  Voting  Age  in  Suffrage  States .  1850 
Women  and  Employment 1850 

Bibliography  1586 


VOLUME  VII 
LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Frontispiece — The  Suffragist  Arousing  Her  Sisters 1578 

Officers  of  the  International  Woman  Suffrage  Alliance. .  1593 

Mrs.  Carrie  Chapman  Catt 161 1 

Miss  P.  C.  Sing 1629 

Frances   Wright 1647 

Mrs.  Lucretia  Mott 1657 

Susan   B.  Anthony 1671 

Mrs.   Elizabeth   Cady   Stanton 1685 

Captivity's    Captive 1707 

Mrs.  Lucy  Stone 1725 

Julia   Ward    Howe 1743 

Frances   E.  Willard 1761 

Anna  Howard  Shaw.  .* 1779 

Map  of  United  States  Showing  Progress  of  Equal  Suf- 
frage     1797 

Map  Showing  Legal  Status  of  Mothers  in  Guardianship 

of   Children 1811 

The  Great  Parade  for  Woman  Suffrage,  New  York  City.  1829 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


For  those  who  wish  to  read  more  extensively,  the  follow- 
ing works  are  especially  recommended: 

Author  Title  of  Work 

B.  Croly The  Promise  of  Amoriean  Life 

C.  L.  Jones Readings  on  Parties  and  I<;iections 

M.  Ostrogorski Democracy  and  the  Party  System 

J.  A.   Smitli Spirit  of  American   Government 

P.  O.  Ray.. An  Introduction  to  Political  Parties  and  Practical  Politics 

A.  E.  McKinley The  Suffrage  Franchise  in  the  Tliirteen  Colonies 

W.  A.  Dunning Reconstruction,  Political  and  Economic 

J.   R.    Commons Proportional    Representation 

Cooley Principles  of  Constitutional  Law 

W.  E.  H.  Lccky Democracy  and  Liberty 

DeToqueville Democracy    in    America 

Henry   Champernowno The    Boss 

E.  W.  Dallinger.  .Nominations  for  Elective  Offices  in  the  United  States 

E.  C.  Meyer Nominating  Systems 

W.  B.  Monroe The  Government  of  American  Cities 

G.  T.  Stephenson Race  Distinctions  in  American  Law 

Eugene  Hocker Short  History  of  Woman's  Rights- 
Sylvia    Pankhurst The    Suffragette 

Belle  Squire The  Woman  Movement  in  America 

Mary  Wollstonecraft Vindication  of  the  Rights  of  Women 

August   Rebel Woman   Under   Socialism 

T.  W.  IHgginson Women  and  the  Alphabet 

Olive  Schreiner Woman  and  Labor 

Charlotte   Perkins   Oilman Woman   and   Economics 

Stanton.   Anthony,   Gage,   Harper History  of  Woman   Suffrage 

McMillan,  Stritt,  Vcrone Woman  Suffrage  in  Practice 

Schirmacher The  Modern  W^oman's   Rights  Movement 

Stopes British    Freewomen 

Ostrogoski The    Rights    of    Women 

Alillicent  G.  Fawcett Woman  Suffrage 

Blackburn Record  of  Woman  Suffrage 

Zimmern Woman    Suffrage    in    Many   Lands 

Sumner Equal   Suffrage 


1586 


Woman  Suffrage 

PART  I 
A  World  Review  of  Woman  Suffrage 

By  CARRIE  CHAPMAN  CATT 

WHEN  or  where  the  woman  suffrage  movement 
began  is  difficult  to  say.  It  is  doubtless  as  old 
as  the  man  suffrage  movement,  for  in  primitive  soci- 
ety, in  separated  and  distant  parts  of  the  world,  tribes 
of  unrelated  races  have  had  a  simple  form  of  democ- 
racy in  which  men  and  women  each  had  an  important, 
and  in  some  cases  an  equal  voice  in  tribal  affairs.  Plato, 
is  visually  credited  ^y'th  b^'^ff  ^hp  fir<;f  pmphet  nf  the 

time    to    rnme    wllfn    rr^"    •^"'^    t^i^nrtiPr.    tAfnnlrl    iinifp    in 

forminiT  a  p-overi|i]-nf^^  hacpH  upon  " i^he^  will  nf  tl^^ 
people/'  Here  and  there,  through  the  centuries  inter- 
vening since  that  day,  a  solitary  figure  has  arisen  to 
repeat  these  views  to  a  shocked  and  contemptuous 
world. 

In  the  struggle  upward  toward  political  freedom, 
men  had  to  overcome  the  powerful  influence  of  the 
universally  believed  "Divine  Right  of  Kings"  and 
Class  to  rule;    women  met  the  same  opposition  men 

1587 


1588 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 


encountered,  and  in  addition  the  universally  believed 
doctrine  of  the  Divine  Right  of  Men  to  rule  over 
women.  Before  the  Christian  Era  began,  war,  with 
its  accompaniment  of  enslaved  women  and  polygamy, 
had  combined  to  reduce  the  women  of  the  nations  then 
leading  the  world's  civilization  to  a  position  of  abject 
servitude.  Sold  into  wifehood  among  the  richer 
classes,  or  into  prostitution  among  the  poorer  ones, 
divorced  at  will,  robbed  of  property  or  means  to  ac- 
cumulate it,  ignorant,  uneducated,  repressed,  tJie  fate 
^^J^^  ^''^^rn^^  lArr^t-^io^  depended  solely  upon  the  affec- 
tion or  caprice  of  father,  husband  or  son.  The  beauty, 
coquetry,  or  wit  of  women  not  infrequently  won  for 
them  a  place  of  honor  and  importance,  but  it  was  well 


kliuwti  that  the  position  ot  even  the  ckverest  might, 
be  wrecked  at  the  whim  of  their  male  relatives. 


Hmng  ttiis  period  women  ot  the  Germanic  nations 
enjoyed  the  freedom  which  has  always  been. the  rule 
among  primitive  people  who  are  advancing.  The  fore- 
mothers  ot  the  pf?ibt!iit-diiy  German  women  had  a 
voice  in  the  afifairs  of  their  people.  Tacitus  declared 
that  men  of  these  regions  proudly  admitted  that : 
"  In  all  grave  matters  we  consult  our  womerf,"     Tn 


Great  bntRi"  ^"'^  wmrinZ  cin-iiior  liberties  were  the 
acj<nowledged  rights  of  women.  The  conquering  arms 
of  the  Roman  Empire  spread  the  teachin;;^  nf  thp  nnb 
liTchon  of  W^^f^  "'"^''  hII  t^'^''^  Ipnrig  ^  Buckle  says: 
"  Rome's  noblest  gift  to  posterity  was  her  vast  sys- 
tem   of    jurisprudence;"    yet   women    were    regarded 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1589 

therein  as  things  not  persons.    This  system  formulated 
at  the  beginning  when  women    were    mere    chattels^ 


bought  ana  sold,  became  the  basis  of  law  throughout 
Europe.  It  gave  way  in  time  to  the  Napoleonic  Code. 
which  did  not  differ  from  it  in  the  main  and  this  in 


turn  became  the  standard  for  amended  Ia:uts-C£uiceaii 
ing  women  in  most  European  countries.  This  Code 
was  established  in  the  United  States  of  Amer^'ra  in 
all  the  territory  belonging  to  the  .Louisiana  Purchase. 
In  Great  Britain  the  Roman  law  evolved  into  the  Com- 
mon Law,  which  in  turn  became  the  basis  of  American 
Law.    All  of  these  systems  relegated  woman  to  ahsrv- 

lute    dependence.         "Rpfnr^_J]Pr     Tnarn'ao-P      V|p|-    wa^pg^ 

should  she  be  a  worker,  belonged  to  her  father,  and 
after  marriage.  ^<^  hf'*  Ving^'anrj  it  was  impossible, 
therefore,  for  her  to  accumulate  property.  Should 
her  relatives  bequeath  property  to  her,  it  became  the 
possession  of  her  husband,  who  not  only  administered 
it.  collected  the  income  derived  from  it.  but  willed  it— 
away  at  his  death.  It  has  often  been  reiterated  that 
the  person  who  controls^the^means  of  sub'sistence  of  >^ 
another,  holds  the  destiny  of  that  other  in  his  com- 
plete control.  This  power  over  the  educational,  social, 
iT-u3nt;fr|pb  and  political  status  of  women  was  in  the 
hanjs  of  men  for  thousands  of  years. 

It  has  been  a  long  and  bitter  struggle  to  rescue 
women  from  this  subjection  and  to  place  them  in  a 
position  where  they  could  command  their  own  battle 
for   emancipation.     To  this   end   heroes,   as   well   as 


I590  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

heroines,  have  stormed  the  world's  citadel  of  prejudice. 

Frrtm  fViP  jo||i  to  the  I ';th  century,  there  was  an_era 
ni  pnltp-htenment  and  European  women  shared  with 
nipn  t;nTnp  ni  the  opportunities  whicli  it.  Opened.  Uni- 
versities in  Italy  and  Spain  admitted  womer)  stndpnts^ 
and  several  women  were  members  of  their  faculties. 
They  not  infrequently  addressed  public  meetings  and 
some  were  famed  for  their  remarkable  oratorical 
powers.  In  France  and  Spain  several  distinguished 
themselves  in  the  practice  of  medic]'ne_and  in  a  11  these  . 
landS-Jfianiiug  for  women  brnnmr._fnnhinnnb1r  nmnnr^ 
Jhe  upppi-  /-inoqpc^  ]\,/rony  womcu  authors  and  poets  ap- 
peared whose  names  are  still  highly  reverenced  by 
their  people. 

Many  nf  tbf  Mother  SupeHors  of  the  Convents  dnjj. 
ing  this  periorl  were  renowned  tor  their  scholarshin. 
literary  talent,  and  executive  ability,  as  well  as  their 
piety  and  more  than  one  declared  rebellion  against  un- 
arreptable  Ptji^f^  P^  ^^^  Chuyr]^  Powers,  and  or.^au=- 
jypri    A^n'nning    rnmpaigng    qgainst    them.       The    WOmen 

of  the  world  owe  much  to  the  Spartan  character  and 
clear  vision  of  many  of  these  religious  heroines,  who 
continued  lives  of  self  abnegation  after  the  monas- 
teries had  become  rich  and  many  monks  forgetful  of 
their  vows. 

More  dark  ages  for  women  succeeded  the  ^.euaia- 


sance  and  swept  awav  every  liberty  Avmnpfi  had  gained 
during  this  period,  tlje  Church  steeped  in  superstitious 
"^^"RtirifiTn  using  ^'^°  ^M-powerful  influence  to  this  end. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1591 

In  1377  the  Faculty  of  the  University  of  Bologna 
where  women  had  studied  and  tan^yht  lerl  the  way  wiTTf 
the  following  decree:  ''And  whereas  woman  is  the 
foundation  of  sin,  the  weapon  of  the  devil,  the  cause 
of  man's  banishment  from  Paradise,  and  whereas  for 
these  reasons  all  association  with  her  is  to  be  dilis;ently 
avoided : 

"Therefore  do  we  interdict  and  expressly  forbid 
that  anyone  presume  to  introduce  in  the  said  college 
any  woman  whatsoever,  however  honorable  she  be. 
And  if  anyone  should  perpetrate  such  an  act,  he  shall  be 
severely  punished." 

The  Church  edicts  were  numerous  during  this  period^ 
a  fact  which  seems  to  signify  that  it  was  not  altogether 
an  easy  task  to  steal  the  new  found  liberty  from  women. 
Among  the  avalanches  of  anathema  hurled  against  them 
was  the  following  Bull  of  Pope  Innocent  8th  in  1487 : 

"  The  Holy  Chrysostom  says :  '  What  is  woman 
but  an  enemy  of  friendship,  an  unavoidable  punish- 
ment, a  necessary  evil,  a  natural  temptation,  a  desirable 
affliction,  a  constantly  flowing  source  of  evil,  a  wicked 
work  of  nature  covered  with  a  shiny  varnish.'  Al- 
ready had  the  first  woman  entered  into  a  sort  of  com- 
pact with  the  devil;  will  not  then  her  daughters  do  it 
also?  Since  she  was  formed  of  a  crooked  rib,  her 
entire  spirit,  her  real  nature  has  been  distorted  and  in- 
clined more  toward  sin  than  virtue." 

During  these  centuries  women  were  not  infrequently 
reminded  by  the  Pulpit  in  the  words  of  Tertullian, 


1592  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

"  Woman,  thou  art  the  gate  of  Hell."  Protestantism 
made  no  protest  against  these  views  of  the  earlier 
Church.  Said  Luther:  *^ Let  woman  manage  her 
lini^«^pVin1r1  'tis  her  lot-  by  nature^— Xha^  ig  her  place—-- 
Said  Calvin:  "God  hath  chosen  the  foolish  things  of 
the  world  (meaning  woman)  to  confound  the  wise 
(meaning  man)  and  base  things  of  the  world  and 
things  that  are  despised  (meaning  women)  to  bring 
to  naught  those  that  are  great  and  of  high  worth 
(meaning  men)." 

Little  is  heard  of  women  in  southern  Europe,  once 
the  leaders  of  the  world's  progress,  aftef~t!iis  dev- 
astating tide  of  superstition  swept  over  them  tmtil  th^ 
prftspnt  |imp  Tn  northern  Etirope  wnman  Hpgpitp 
law  and  rnstom,  maintained  a  rpmarkahle  dfgfPf  nf 
personal  independence,  and  women  contimiallv  ap- 
peared who  had  distinguished  themselves  in  letta;;s, 
politics,  music,  art,  and  even  war, • 

As  the  chief  barrier  to  every  proposed  change  in  the 
status  of  woman,  was  the  idea  almost  universally  held, 
that  her  intellect  was,  by  nature,  so  inferior  to  that  of 
man  that  the  handicap  could  never  be  overcome,  each 
woman  who  achieved  something  unusual  became  arl 
unconscious  Liberator  of  her  sex. 

During  the  Middle  Ages,  one  curious  reh'r  of  ancient 
liberty  remained.     Tn  all  feudal  lands,  a  form  of  self 
government,    '"'^biVVi  attached   the    frnnrhise   to  landed 
pgfatpc^  hfr?*^^  pgtab1ic;lipf]    and  wh^pever  such  prop^ 
^'^^y  ffll  i"^^  ^^^  Vianric  r.f  ■'i'Tr,rnpp    ^f='  j^"  frequcntlv 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  i595 

did,  the  vote  was  exercised  by  them,  j  Women  were 
still  much  repressed  and  opportunities  for  advanced 
education  were  denied  them,  but  as  the  theory  of  feu- 
dalism held  that  it  was  property,  and  not  the  individual 
which  was  represented,  it  was  no  anomaly  to  permit 
the  voice  of  woman  to  be  heard.  This  form  of  feudal 
suffrage  was  largely  utilized  by  women  in  France,  Ger- 
rnanj,  Bohemia,  Austria,  and  Great  Britain^ 

Tn  pranrp-,  there  Were  fifty-one  fiefs,  forty-seven  of 
which  were  open  to  women.     ''The  heiress  tn  a  fief 

j:>iqjr>ypr1   fViA  g^mP  rip^l]|-<;  as  a  man.       "^I^P  Ipyif^    nrtniW 

coined  money,  and  administered  justice.  She  could 
attain  to  the  very  highest  position,  take  part  in  the  gov- 
ernment as  regent  of  the  Kingdom,  Peeress  of  France, 
or  Governor  of  a  Province.  Frntyi  |V>p  Keo-i'^p^npr  nf 
the  States  General  in  1-^02,  to  their  disappearance  iri 
rf?^  women  voted  like  men  far  the  nomination  of 
delep;-ates.  They  were  summoned  to  the  Guilds  under 
the  same  conditions  as  men."  *  The  new  gox£j:.nmer!.t 
resultant  upon  the  Revolution,  destroyed  these  ancient 
rights^ f  men  and  women,  and  in  the  new  distribution 
of  political  favors,  vastly  increased  the  pfj^Mlp^Pg  ar^r^  /^ 

ajithnritv  nf  men,  while  robbing  women  of  practically     *^^r 
q1|  fVip  arlyp^nfacres  they  had  formerly  possessed. 

Similar  political  rights  were  enjoyed  by  women  in 
Austria,  although  apparently  not  exercised  so  gener- 
ally ^s  in  hrnnrr,  ^mt^  iQOb.  when  the  property  qual- 

I'fjrati'nns    were    reP^nyfd     anri     nm'versal     Sllffrap^e    for 


*"  International  Suffrage  Report,"  1909. 


1596  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

mpn  in  rp<;|7frf  tn  the  "K[ational  Parliament  was  estah- 
lished.  HfrP  ^g^^'"  ^^f'  political  discrimination  against 
wr.r>-|^iq  -^yac  ■tT^actly  increased  With  the  further  extension 

In  Great  Britain  not  only  did  women  exercise  a 
lando\vner's  vote^  but  throughjieredity  they  were  eligi- 
ble  to  the  position  of  custodian  jiLa-jcastle-ftr  sheriff.^ 
andin  reality  such  offices  were  held  by  women.  Among 
them  Annie  Clifford.  Countess  of  Dorset  rit;8Q-i67e;^ 
was  particularly  noted.  "  She  upheld  Lu,i  laviful  dainK 
as  hereditary  Sheriff  of  Westmoreland  ap^ninst  Kin<r 
J^mps  T  h^'^^'^^^^j  '^"'^  ^^^  ''^'^ frndrd  hrr  rnntlr'^'  againgt 
the  troops  of  Cromwell."  Women  in  these  hereditary 
positions  were  liable  to  be  commanded  to  attend  the 
King  in  council  or  camp,  with  or  without  their  troops, 
and  history  records  that  they  were  in  reality  so  com- 
manded at  times  and  that  they  obeyed,  commanding 
their  troops  with  skill.  The  earlier  electors  of  Great 
Britain  were  called  Freemen  and  under  similar  qual- 
ifications  Freewomen  had  equal  yotmg^  ri^hts._ 


Frnrp  nre^cti^  J\pf^m  something  of  these  traditional 
poljtical  privilpfyps  came  to  America.  In  1648.  Mis- 
trp^t;  IVfarp^arpt  T^rpn^,  attorney  for  Lord  Baltinlflre  attd 

Q   23rCf    1otir1r.T»rn^r      nUirr^f.A    n     op-^f    |^    fhp    AsSCmbly    of 

Maryland,    Her  qualifications  were  precisely  those  of 
f^^j^^  m^mbfrPj  n"^  ^-"^^  ^^isemrny  npciaren  tnat  i^ree- 

mpn^   ^nd  not  F*-'"^^"^'^^",   ^^'-^^'^  <-^^  prify  ^mfpr'^  ni  thp 

Frnvince:    Goyernor  Greene  refused  to  giye  her  a  seat, 
whereupon  she  protested  against  all  the  proceedings 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1597 

of  the  Assembly.  The  same  Assembly  expressed  its 
thanks  to  her  for  her  great  services  in  Ingle's  rebellion 
and  made  the  following  remarkable  report  to  Lord 
Baltimore :  "As  for  Mistress  Brent's  undertaking  and 
meddling  with  your  Lordship's  estate  here,  we  do  verily 
believe  and  in  conscience  report,  that  it  were  better 
for  the  rnlnny'q  safety,  at  that  time  in  her  hands,  than 
in  any  man's  else  in  the  whole  Provin(;e  after  vonr 
brother's  •  death,  for  the  soldiers  would  nfYfr  h?"^*^ 
treated  any  other  with  that  civility  and  respect  and 

thnilgrh  thev  were  even  re^^dy  «;evera1  tiinfg  \^  rilT''  """^^ 
mutiny,  yet  she  still  pacified  them  till  at  the  last,  things 
were  brought  to  that  strait  that  she  must  be  admitted 
and  declared  your  Lordship's  Attorney  by  an  order  of 
Court  (the  copy  whereof  is  herewith  enclosed),  or 
else  all  must  go  to  ruin  again  and  then  the  second 
mischief  had  doubtless  been  far  greater  than  the  for- 
mer." Margaret  Brent  evidently  bf1p"fjr^^^  ^^  ^^"^  ^^'^d'- 
tionary  type  of  strong^  mind^r|  and  independf"<-  Ttrit- 
ish  women  who  knew  that  a  voice  in  government  was 
theirs  by  hereditary  ri.o-ht.  bnt  in  new  Amerj^n  tbat 
privilege  was  denied. 

In  the  early  records  of  New  England  towns  it  ap- 
pears that  women  attended  town  meetings,  sometimes 
on  account  of  their  "own  property  rights  and  sometimes 
as  proxies  for  their  husbands.  In  Nantucket  several 
women's  names  are  conspicuous  in  the  records,  one 
that  of  Mrs.  Mary  Starbuck,  who  often  addressed  the 
town  meetings.     She  allayed  all  prejudice  at  the  begin- 


1598  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

ning  of  her  speeches  by  invariably  prefacing  her  sage 
comments  by  "My  husband  thinks"  so  and  so.    Land, 
in  Salem__3nd  Plymnnth  was  meted  out  "to  men^  wid^ 
ows.  and  maids"  at  the  beginning,  and  apparentl^qpfljiis.— 
ir.a1_  representation  went  with  the  land.     Governor  En^ 
dicott  regarded  this  plan  as  a  preventive  of  early  mar- 
nag^  ar\(]  by  his  own  edict  after  a  time^  no  more  land 
was  given  to  maids. , 

A  woman  suffrage  movement  began  in  the  American 
Colonies  in  Revolutionary  Jjays.  it  was  apparently 
inspired  by  the  new  democratic  ideals  of  the  times, 
but  its  claims  were  as  certainly  based  upon  the  old 
rights  with  which  the  Colonists  had  been  familiar  in  the 
Old  World.  In  1778,  while  the  war  was  still  in 
progress,  Hannah  Lee  Corbin,  of  Virginia,  the  sister 
of  Gen.  Richard  Henry  Lee,  wrote  him  protesting 
against  the  taxation  of  women  unless  they  were  al- 
lowed to  vote.  He  replied  that  "women  already  had 
that  right,"  apparently  recognizing  the  old  rights  as 
still  in  authority  in  the  Colonies.*     Women  certainly 

irrifpH    I'r.   ViVfri'tip    QnrI    I'n    cPVPff]]    (]f   \he   Clolonipt;         Npw 

Jersey  secured  the  ri.o-ht  \n  yote  to  the  tax  navinq^ 
women  of  that  S^ntf  on  T"^y  '^'''"■"^rd,  T77f>-  f^t^d  thev 
exercised  it  until  i9.ny  .  Washington  and  Jefiferson 
counted  these  New  Jersey  women  voters  among  their 
constituents.  Unfortunately,  they  offended  the  party 
in  power,  which  punished  them  by  taking  the  privilege 
away. 

*"  History  Woman  Suffrage,"  Vol.  I. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1599 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  that  in  this  same  year 
Mrs.  Spencer  Stanhope,*  of  Hreat  Rfji-ain  wrote  to 
her  son  that  her  husband's  party  was  so  certain  of 
success  that  they  had  announced  that  their  women  folk 
need  not  vote.  The  lady  was  very  wroth  at  this  de-  . 
cision,  holding  it  to  be  "  extraordinary  and  very  hard,^ 
considering  how  few  privileges  we  poor  females  have. 
Should  It  come  to  a  very  close  struggle,  I  dare  say 
they  will  then  call  upon  the  ladies,  and  in  that  case 
every  self  respecting  woman  should  most  certainly  re- 
fuse her  assistance."  The  natural  inference  is  that- 
votes  attached  to  property  were  still  recognized  in 
Great  Britair}  at  tliis  dater- 

JT.o  "Prf^^h  T?r^^^"^''"ni'it'i  i'^'^^ipd  a  "Dprlarafion  of 
the  Rights  of  Man  in  17^0.  but  it  referred  onlyJii. 
r|ipn  Olympe  de  Gouges  entered  a  protest  with  a 
book  the  same  year,  dedicated  to  the  French  Queen 
and  called  "  The  Declaration  of  the  Rights  of  Women.'/ 
As  a  result  of  its  teaching  a  petition  was  presented. 

Ortnher   -?Rth,    J  7^9     tn  th"   Nnt^'^""^    /\cc^t^V(]y     ^i^nfrj 

by  Parisian  women,   demandinp-  votes   for  women  in 
the  election  of  members  of  the  Assembly. 

In  1792  "Mii'j  Wn]1'itiin(prrnft  dr-rribrd  by  chival- 
rous Horace  Walpole  as  "a  hyena  in  petticoats,"  pub- 
lished  her  '^VmHir^i^'np   ni  the  Rig-hts  of  Women," 

^.rh\nh  rnf  nil  Fnnrlnnrl  ngtiV  nnri  flirary  rlrmvin|fT  rnorp  to 
tnlljr^^f  "^Ynni^n''i  riorht^iJl— Tn   T7r>^,  Gnndnrret.  in 
the    Frrnrh    Annmnbln'.    made   an    immnrtnl  .plea    for 
*  "  Woman  Suffrage,  1912  " :  Mrs.  M.  G.  Fawcett. 


i6oo  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

woman  suffrage  which  resolved  all  the  intellectual  cen- 
ters of  France  into  debating  societies  upon  the  subject. 
\Yntnpn  nrp^anized  rlnbs  to  further  the-discussioil.  The 
end  of  this  campaign,  which  was  carried  on  more  con- 
nectedly and  effectively  than  the  earlier  one  in  America, 
was  that  the  clubs  were  closed  in  the  same  year  by  the 
"Committee  of  Public  Safety"  because  the  clubs  dis- 
turbed the  "public  peace;"  and  the  French  Democrats 
who  had  urged  their  plea  of  "liberty,  equality,  and 
fraternity,"  made  public  by  so  doing  that  they  had 
overthrown  the  doctrine  of  the  "Divine  Right  of 
Kings,"  but  still  upheld  the  "Divine  Right  of  Men." 
This  action  was  followed  by  the  establishment  of  the 
Napoleonic  Code.  Napoleon,  jwho  hated  women  of 
brains,  had  exiled  those  most  influent^f^  nni-ah1y  Mmp_ 
de  Stael.  The  old  rights  came  to  an  end  with  the 
new  rights  for  men,  and  the  woman  suffrage  move- 
ment which  came  with  the  Revolution  was  put  into 

the    barkgronnd    wjierp    if    d^^nhprprl    inr    many    y^prc 

Kpfnrp  bf^^pi"  ^pf^^d  of  agj'ain. 

In  1 819  a  man  suffrage  movement  arose  in  Great 
Britain  which  reached  a  crisis  at  Manchester  in  what 
is  known  as  the  Peterloo  Massacre  in  August  of  that 
year.  Women  had  joined  this  Reform  movement  as 
active  participants.  "A  picture  of  the  Peterloo  Mas- 
sacre, now  in  the  Manchester  Reform  Club,  is  ded- 
icated to  Henry  Hunt,  Esq.,  the  Chairman  of  the 
meeting  and  to  the  Female  Reformers  of  Manchester, 
and   the   adjacent  towns   who   were   exposed   to   and 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1601 

suffered  from  the  wanton  and  furious  attack  made  on 
tliem  l)v  that  brutal  armed  force,  the  Manchester  and 
Cheshire  Yeomanry  Cavalry.  The  picture  represents 
women  in  every  part  of  the  fray,  and  certainly  taking 
their  share  in  its  horrors."  ='=  "  On  one  of  the  banners 
carried  by  the  women  as  depicted  in  this  very  old  print 
are  plainly  printed  the  words,  "Votes  for  Women." 
The  Reform  Movement  came  up  again  in  Great 
Britani  in  1832,  and  ended  by  tne  passage  of  the  Re- 
form Act  of  1832,  which  substituted  the  word  "male 
person"  for  man  and  this  placed  a  constitutional  dis- 
ability  upon  women.     By  this  act  a  considerable  nunj;: 

hpr   nf   piprL-j,vnrp    pnfrnnr1iiip<=l. 

Many  women  in  many  lands  in  the  first  half  of  the 
19th  Century  contributed  much  valuable  service  toward 
breaking  down  the  wall  of  prejudice  which  bound 
women's  sphere.  Mary  Somerville  in  acknowledg- 
ment of  her  skill  in  mathematics  and  Caroline  Her- 
schell  who  had  distinguished  herself  in  astronomy, 
were  elected  members  of  the  Royal  Astronomical  So- 
ciety in  1835.  Elizabeth  Fry  had  revolutionized  the 
prisons  of  Great  Britain  and  Florence  Nightingale  the 
soldiers'  camps  and  hospitals  in  the  Crimean  War.  In 
our  own  country  Emma  Willard  and  Mary  Lyon 
opened    seminaries    for   the    "advanced   education   of 

women."        Ql^jn     rnllporp    ^yf^g    Pgtahlkhpd     iti     tR^3 

with  open  doors  fnr  prj^k    fViP  firgf  college  in  moderg 
times  to  admit  women.     Tn  1832,  Lydia  Maria  Child 

*  "  Woman  Suffrage,  1892  " :  Mrs.  M.  G.  Fawcett.' 


i6o2  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

published  her  "  History  of  Woman,"  in  which  she  plead 
for  larger  freedom  for  women.  In  1836,  Abraham 
Lincoln  made  his  famous  declaratiQa  in  favor  ^  pnli ti- 
ed eQualitv  for  women^L-"!  go  for  all  sharing  the 
privileges  of  the  government  who  assist  in  bearing  its 
burdens,  by  no  means  excluding  women." 

In  1840  Margaret  Fuller  published  her  great  essay 
on  "Man  vs.  W^omen,"  and  in  1845  her  "Women  of 
the  19th  Century."  Women  took  an  increasinglv  active 
parf  in  fVip  pnti-dnvpry  agitation  and  had  formed 
local  Societies  here  and  there.     In  ^837,  th'^y  h^^^  '^ 

Natmnal    r^nvpntion    \p    Npw    Vnrlr    with    gpypnty-twn 

r^pip^tpg  Kpijpvpri  t^  H  tb'^  ^^''^  rfpr^'^'"^<^^^ivp  body 
gfjaiOlQfiia-ei'er  cowtened  In  <B^6  a  petition  was  pre- 
serit£d_lQ— the  Ne\^L--Zork  Legislature,  asking  the  re- 
rnoval  of  the  legal  disabilities  of  married  women.  In 
Tp^^  Maine,  the  first  State  to  take  such  action,  granted 
t^nr|-jf.^  wompn  rpntrol  of  thclr  own  property. 

These  and  many  other  similar  events  were  suc- 
ceeding each  other  with  great  rapidity  and  preparing 
the  way  by  their  continued  agitation  of  the  "  women's 
rights"  question  as  it  was  called,  for  the  organized 
demand  for  the  vote. 

In  1840  a  World's  Anti-Slavery  Congress  was  held 
in  London.  Several  women  delegates  from  the  United 
States  were  barred  out  after  a  stormy  debate.  Wm. 
Lloyd  Garrison  and  Nathaniel  P.  Rogers  arriving  on 
a  belated  ship  came  too  late  for  the  discussion,  but  as 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1603 

a  protest  against  the  action  of  the  Congress  they  re- 
fused to  take  their  delegate's  seats  and  sat  in  the  gallery 
with  the  women.  Lucretia  Mott,  the  leading  woman 
delegate,  and  Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton,  the  bride  of  a 
delegate,  determined  to  call  a  convention  upon  their 
return  to  consider  the  many  discriminations  made 
against  women  by  law  and  custom.  This  they  did 
some  years  later  and  it  was  held  in  Seneca  Falls,  New 
York,  in  1848.  Here  a  Declaration  of  Women's  In- 
dependence, belated  by  half  a  century  was  presented 
and  adopted.  It  was  received  with  the  ridicule  and  con- 
tempt with  which  an  ignorant  world  has  ever  answered 
pleas  for  justice. 

In  the  same  year,  1848,  Mr.  Disraeli,  said  in  the 
House  of  Commons :  "  In  a  country  governed  by  a 
woman,  where  you  allow  women  to  form  part  of  the 
other  estate  of  the  realm,  peeresses  in  their  own  right, 
for  example,  where  you  allow  women  not  only  to  hold 
land  but  to  be  ladies  of  the  manor  and  hold  legal  courts, 
where  a  woman  by  law  may  be  a  church  warden  and 
overseer  of  the  poor,  I  do  not  see,  where  she  has  so 
much  to  do  with  the  State  and  Church,  on  what  rea- 
son, if  you  come  to  right,  she  has  not  a  right  to  vote." 

The  organized  demand  for  woman  suffrage  dates 
from  1848,  and  the  momentum  of  the  movement  has 
steadily  increased  year  after  year  until  n<r_shdii2£.d 
countrv  remains  which  has  not  felt  the  force  of-its 
influence. 


i6o4  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

Woman  Suffrage  in  Europe 

Austria.  —  In  1862,  widow''  ^"^  spinsters  wi't^  prr.p- 
erty  were  given  a  vote  by  proxy  in  A"°*^^''^,  RP  ^p- 
parPft  ciirviv^l  nf  thpjr  ancient  feudal  rights.  In 
1867  women  were  forbidden  to  organize^^orJoJDecome 

jpf^ipl^^ro    r.f    pr>1i>inl    nrf nriation«;        That    laW    is    Still 
npprativp     rl1tbP"g^''    '^'^    rpinnvql    i<^    a    much    discusse£ 

qnrntinn  nnl  t1i"  p""'^""^  'Rnt.ii'nmnni-  rroT-^^  has  the 
matter  under  consideration.  As  no  regularly  consti- 
tuted woman  suffrage  association  is  legally  possible, 
woman  suffragists  conduct  their  propaganda  work 
through  committees.  They  must  secure  the  consent  of 
the  police  for  every  meeting,  and  one  or  more  police- 
men is  present  to  see  that  the  law  is  not  violated. 

In  Bohemia,  a  province  of  Austria,  which  has  been 
permitted  to  retain  its  own  Diet,  women  taxpayers  in 
1 86 1  were  especially  granted  municipal  suffrage  and 
eligibility  to  the  Diet.  This  definite  extension  of  politi- 
cal privilege  was  evidently  founded  upon  ancient  feudal 
rights.  For  many  years  qualified  women  exercised 
this  franchise  but  it  fell  into  disuse  through  the  an- 
tawnistic  attitude  of  Election  Committees.  In  1905, 
an  agitation  for  universal  suffrage  for  men  arose  and 
women  came  forward  at  the  same  time  to  claim  their 
former  rights.  Men  were  granted  universal  suffrage 
in  respect  to  the  Imperial  Parliament  in  1906  in  com- 
mon with  all  other  men  in  the  Empire,  but  in  Bohemia, 
as  elsewhere,  the  political  rights  of  women  were  de- 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1605 

creased  with  the  increase  of  poHtical  rights  for  men. 
With  the  idea  in  view  that  their  pecuhar  campaign 
could  more  effectively  be  conducted  within  the  Diet, 
women  sought  the  nomination  and  election  of  a  woman 
member  in  1907  whose  eligibility  to  this  position  dated 
from  feudal  times.  At  each  succeeding  election  they 
worked  to  the  same  end,  with  the  result  that  Mrs. 
Vikova  Kuneticka  was  elected  to  the  Diet  in  191 2. 
The  Imperial  Law  forbidding  women  to  join  political 
organizations  is  operative  over  Bohemia,  and  creates 
the  anomaly  of  a  woman  legislator  who  is  legally  for- 
bidden to  join  her  own  party  organization. 

In  Bosnia  and  Herzogovina  by  the  new  constitution 
of  February,  19 10,  authorized  by  the  Austrian  and 
Hungarian  Empire,  four  classes  of  men  may  qualify 
to  vote.  The  first  is  composed  of  landowners  who  pay 
a  tax  of  140  crowns  on  their  estate,  and  widows  and 
spinsters  were  included.  The  vote  is  by  proxy.  At  the 
first  election.  May,  19 10,  seventy-eight  women  voted, 
seventy-six  being  Mohammedans,  one  Servian,  one 
Roman  Catholic. 

In  191 2  the  Diet  of  Lower  Austria  extended  to  the 
women  voters  of  Wiener-Neustadt  (60,000  inhabit- 
ants) and  Waidhofen  (20,000  inhabitants)  the  right  to 
cast  direct  votes  instead  of  voting  by  proxy  as  before, 
and  the  use  of  the  vote  was  made  compulsory.  The  im- 
perial law  which  forbids  women  to  be  members  of 
political  societies  applies  to  this  section  of  Austria  as 
elsewhere  and  the  curious  anomaly  is  produced  of  com- 


i6o6  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

pelling  women  to  vote,  while  forbiding  them  to  join 
any  organization  existing  for  the  purpose  of  further- 
ing the  cause  for  which  they  vote. 

In  Galicia,  married  women  property  owners  were 
given  a  vote  in  1866,  but  as  this  must  be  cast  by  their 
husbands,  an  independent  opinion  was  evidently  not  ex- 
pected. Widows  and  unmarried  women,  however,  were 
given  permission  to  select  their  proxies  and  to  instruct 
them  how  to  cast  their  votes.  In  1908  a  Political  Equal- 
ity League  to  further  the  suffrage  rights  of  women 
was  founded.  This  society  followed  the  example  of 
the  one  in  Bohemia  and  put  up  a  woman  candidate  for 
the  Diet,  as  eligibility  to  the  legislative  assembly  was 
an  old  hereditary  right.  Miss  Marie  Duleba,  to  the 
surprise  of  friends  and  foes,  polled  511  votes. 

Mijjjgnry  pnjr)y<^  ^ustitutioual  independence  and  has 
its  own  Parliament.  In  1906  a  National  WOtYl^aTT' 
Snffrnr^  Assnn'nfj^^  '"'^^'^  fnrtnpH  anr|  f>ef^n  a  cam- 
paign to  secure  the  inclusion  of  women  in  the  strugp^le 
toward  universal  man  suffrage.  Those  who  favored 
an  extension  of  suffrage  to  men  have  been  divided  into 
universal  suffragists  and  limited  suffragists.  The 
women  sought  endorsement  by  either  or  both  camps. 
After  a  lively  and  bitter  campaign  accompanied  by  con- 
siderable "militancy  on  the  part  of  men,"  the  Gov- 
ernment presented  a  Reform  Bill  to  the  Parliament  of 
1913,  endorsing  the  claims  of  the  limited  suffragists 
and  including  women.  This  measure  was  passed  after 
amendment  which  excluded  women  and  a  considerable 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1607 

number  of  men.  The  Hungarian  Woman  Suffrage 
Association  has  been  particularly  active,  and  intelli- 
gent in  its  campaign  and  many  prominent  men  and 
women  have  interested  themselves  in  it. 

Poland. — There  has  been  a  feminist  movement  in 
Poland  for  many  years,  although  unorganized  until  the 
present  time.  The  tragic  struggle  of  this  unhappy 
land  has  revealed  the  fine  strong  qualities  of  women 
W'hose  sacrifices  for  patriotism  have  challenged  the 
respect  and  honor  of  Polish  men.  A  leader,  Mme. 
Kuczalska-Reinschmidt  has  been  untiring  in  her  efforts 
for  many  years  and  now  in  her  old  age  a  vast  senti- 
ment for  her  cause  and  great  honors  for  her  have  come 
as  a  reward  for  her  sacrifices. 

Belgium. — Women  employers  or  employees  may 
vote  for  members  and  be  eligible  to  the  Counseils  des 
Prudhommes  or  Courts  of  Trade,  the  right  having 
been  granted  in  1909.  A  commission,  appointed  as  the 
result  of  a  national  strike  in  May,  191 3,  is  now  sitting 
(August,  191 3)  and  is  considering  the  demand  made 
by  the  workingmen  of  the  country  for  "  one  man,  one 
vote."  The  clerical  government  has  openly  declared 
that  if  it  is  forced  to  this  act,  it  will  also  extend  "  one 
woman,  one  vote." 

Bulgaria. — In  South  Eastern  Europe  women  have 
heroically  aided  in  the  numerous  efforts  to  secure  na- 
tional liberation  and  have  usually  demanded  of  their 
victorious  countrymen  some  recognition  for  their  serv- 
ices.    Bulgaria  was  granted  its  autonomy  by  Turkey 


i6o8  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

in  1878,  but  remained  tributary  to  that  Power.  Large 
numbers  of  women  were  included  in  the  Hsts  of  those 
who  labored  for  freedom  and  the  elevation  of  the  peo- 
ple. Some  of  these  presented  a  petition  to  the  first 
Parliament  in  1879,  asking  for  the  vote,  but  with  no 
result.  The  customs  before  this  date  were  primitive 
and  patriarchal.  No  code  of  laws  existed,  but  the 
new  Parliament  turned  to  Belgium  and  Germany  for 
models  and  as  these  nations  at  that  time  granjed 
few  rights  to  women,  the  Bulgarian  women  now  found 
themselves  hemmed  about  by  legal  restraints  they  had 
never  before  known.  In  1908  Bulgaria  declared  her 
independence  and  the  women  declared  theirs  by  the 
formation  of  a  Woman  Suffrage  Association  with  the 
wife  of  the  Prime  Minister  as  president. 

Denmark. — The  women  of  nnrthern  F^nrnpp  al- 
ways enjoyed  social  p^iH  ppr<;r^p^1  freedom,  and  al- 
t]i"iig"h  the  i"f n^r^'p  '^f  K'^nian  law  swept  over  those 

rnirntripc;^  jt  never  t;nrrppHpf]  in  the  pntirp  rpprpggmn  ni 

the  womeii^  The  Scandinavians  as  p  Vf^re  are  ^ntpp«^plv 
democratic  and  independent  and  it  i*;  not  surprising 
that  man  and  woman  suffrage  has  made  more  advanced 

prngrpQg  thprp  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  Old  World. 

Danish  women  were  given  municipal  suffrage  and  eligi- 
bility to  municipal  offices  upon  the  same  conditions  as 
men  in  the  year  1908.  Unmarried  women  qualify  by 
the  payment  of  a  small  tax ;  married  women  may  qual- 
ify upon  the  taxes  by  their  husbands.  In  19 10,  127 
women  were  serving  as  town  councillors,  7  of  them 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1609 

being  members  of  the  City  Council  of  Copenhagen,  the 
Capital.  Upon  the  recommendation  of  the  King  the 
■.government  introdtice'd  ct  parhamentary  measure,  191 3, 
tQ^xtend  the  parliamentary  vote  to  wom^n  gnnlitied  to 
\:Qte  in  ^Municipal  elections.  After  having  passed  the 
Lower  House,  the  Parliament  was  dissolved.  New 
elections  were  held  in  May,  1913,  and  the  question  is 
still  pending. 

Finland.  —  In  1873  widows  and  unmarried  women 
taxpayers  were  granted  municipal  suffrage.    The  pnpn- 

the  nation  sustained  a  long  and  bitter  contest  against 
Russia  to  re.gain  its  freedom!  \\^nen  took  an  active 
part  in  the  strugs^le.  fearlessly  performiujp^  many  deeds 
of  danger.  In  ]\Iay,  1906.  the  movement  for  indepen- 
dence  took  the  form  of  a  national  strike  and  the  Czar 
yielded,  a  Parliament  and  universal  suffrage  for  men 
and  women  forming  the  chief  Russian  concession.  An 
energetic  woman's  society  (Kvinnosaksforbundet  Unio- 
nem)  had  educated  the  pnhlir  mjnd  tn  rrrrirr^  thr  rqnni 

ify  Qf  iMghtp  nf  tlip  cpvpc  nnd  "Pnccian  npprp';<;ip]-|  h^d 
Stimulated  national  patriotism  and  Inve  nf  Hherty^  When 
the  Czar  expressed  his  doubts  as  to  the  advisability 
of  including  women  in  the  new  grant  of  liberty,  Sena- 
tor Mechelin  who  conducted  the  audience  replied :  "  The 
opinion  of  the  nation  demands  it,  and  there  is  no  rea- 
son to  fear  that  women  will  not  use  their  vote  w^ith 
the  same  feeling  of  responsibility  as  men."  W^omen 
have  served  in  the  Parliament  continuallv  in  consid- 


i6io  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

erable  numbers,  twenty-six  having  been  chosen  at  the 
first  election.  The  benefits  of  universal  suffrage  have 
been  largely  nullified  however,  by  the  later  appointmenf 
of  a  Russian  r:r^..Prr.nr-C/^nPr^|  ^yho  possesses  the  right 
of  a  veto  and  who  uses  it  upon  all  acts  of  local  in- 
-terest.^ 

France.  —  With    the    disappearance    of    their    old 
feudal   rights.   the'^aClliienL  uf   Llie  UW    forbiddni^  ' 
them  to  organize  to  secure  new  rights,  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  tbp  Code  Napoleon,  there  was  little  oppor- 
tunity for  Frenrh  Wf^mf"  t^  "  fnmpnt  arPbHIioilJ'.    "If 

a  husband  killed  his  wife  for  committing  adultery, 
the  murder  was  'excusable.'  On  the  other  hand  an 
illicit  mother  could  not  file  a  paternity  suit."  *  Yet 
in  the  Revolution  of  18^0  and  as;ain  in  that  of  t8a8., 
manv  men  and  women  arose  to  preach  the  doctrine  of 
an  pqiiality  of  rights  for  women,  (jeorge  i^and  was 
one  of  the  most  conspicuous  advocates.  The  Republic 
of  1870  was  appealed  to  by  an  influential  group  to 
extend  suffrage  to  women  under  the  new  government, 
but  it  refused  as  the  National  Assembly  of  1789  had 
done.  Since  1878  an  organized  campaign  has  been 
conducted,  chiefly  in  Paris  to  secure  the  vote  and  to 
secure  the  removal  of  the  many  legal  disabilities  which 
are  put  upon  French  women.  A  large  group  of  Catho- 
lic women  work  to  the  same  end  independently  of  the 
others.  Its  president,  Marie  Mangeret,  made  an  espe- 
cial trip  to  Rome  for  the  purpose  of  presenting  the 

*"The  Modem  Women's  Rights  Movement":  Schirmacher. 


MRS.   CARRIE   CHAPMAN   CATT 
President,    International    Woman    Suffrage   Alliance. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1613 

Catholic  women's  need  for  the  vote  to  the  Pope  and 
the  audience  was  granted.  The  suffrage  so  far  gained 
is  the  right  of  women  to  vote  for  and  be  ehgible  to  the 
Tribunals  of  Commerce,  a  kind  of  Court  composed  of. 
employers  and  employees  with  authority  to  adjust  dif- 
ferences. The  Nezv  York  Tribune  of  August  13,  1913, 
confirms  the  report  that  the  Municipal  Cr^^^^^rU  r.f  Pari<^  _ 

by    unanimous    vote,    has    arrn^-HpH    fTi^   mnniripal    vote 

tQ.w^rp?n. 

Germany.  —  Men  of  the  twenty-five  States  of  the 
German  Empire  possess  universal  suffrage  for  the 
Reichstag  (Imperial  Parliament)  although  man  suf- 
frage is  limited  in  the  local  election  of  most  of  the 
States.  With  the  growing  democratic  spirit  the  old 
Feudal  franchise  passed  into  disfavor  and  with  it  th^ 
earlier  suffrage  rights  of  wnmp.ri —  Yet  scattered  suf- 
frage rights  in  minor  matters  for  women  taxpayers  are 
still  in  existence,  the  relics  of  the  old  order,  rather  than 
achievements  of  the  new.  Tn  Ton8  a  municipal  election 
in  Rhineland  was  declared  illegal  because  the  name  of 
a  woman  voter  had  been  refused  by  the  registrar,  and  in 
consequence  of  a  judicial  decision,  a  new  election  was 
held.  In  Silesia,  where  women  landowners  still  have 
the  right  of  a  proxy  vote  in  the  communal  election,  but 
where  it  has  not  usually  been  exercised,  nearly  2,000 
women  availed  themselves  of  this  ancient  privilege  in 
the  year  1910  to  the  general  amazement  of  the  Ger- 
man public. 

Until  May,  tqo?^,  an  imperial  law  forbade  all  German 


i6i4  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

womeiJ^^.laVe  part  in,  political  meetings,  with  the  ex- 
reptinn  of  those  of  the  free  cities^  A  suffrage  organiza- 
tion with  headquarters  in  the  free  City  of  Hamburg 
was  therefore  constituted  in  1902  with  individual  mem- 
bers in  all  parts  of  the  Empire.  ]\Ieetings  were  held  in 
the  chief  cities  with  little  restriction  beyond  the  neces- 
sity of  securing  police  consent  for  all  such  assemblies, 
and  the  presence  of  police  officers  who  kept  a  record  of 
each  meeting  for  police  reference.  With  the  removal 
of  the  taboo  in  1908,  the  German  Woman  Suffrage 
Association  was  normally  constituted  and  now  has 
branches  in  all  the  States.  Tke^Prussian  Government 
in  19 10  instituted  an  official  investigation  into  the_ 
causes  which  produrerl  a  surplus  of  female  population. 
^"  n  rf'iult  r>1]  sHi^^ls  f^r  ^-"^'o^her  education  were  thrown 
open  to  women  in  order  that  they  might  be  better  pre- 
pared toTarn  their  own  iiveiinood,  since  it  was  apparent 
that  the  surplus  was  a  permanent  factor. 

Hptta-t  T^t?ttatm  — TrTT^cn  arT^  became  law  in 
Great  Rritain  whereby  words  importing  the  mascu- 
UnP  o-enrl^r  shall  be  deemed  to  include  females  unless 
the  contrary  is  expressly  provided.  In  1867  another 
T?efnrm  "Rill  passed,  which  substituted  the  word  man 
for  male  person,  a  return  to  the  wording  before  18.^2. 
As  under  similar  letter  of  the  law  women  had  claimed 
their  ancient  voting  rights,  a  large  number  of  women 
tax  payers  sought  a  place  upon  the  voting  lists  of  1868. 
This  attempt  was  made  in  many  parts  of  England  and 
Scotland,  over  5,000  women  in  Manchester  alone  unit- 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1615 

ing  in  the  demand.  The  registrars  refused  to  enter 
the  names  of  women  and  a  test  case  was  brought  into 
Court.  The  Judge  decided  that  "although  the  word 
man  in  an  Act  of  ParHament  must  be  held  to  include 
women,  this  did  not  apply  to  the  privileges  granted  by 
the  State."  In  t?Lf  words  i7f  th*^  -P^p^rt  of  the^a^^ 
tiona4  Society  for  Women's  Suffrage,  1869:  ~"  This, 
judgment,  therefore,  established  as  law  tliat  the  same 
words  in  the  same  Act  of  Parliament  shall  for  the  pur- 
pose  of  voting-  apply  tn  m°n  '^r\^y  but  for  the  purpose  _ 
of  taxation  shall  include  women." 

In  1 85 1,  an  article,  which  took  the  form  of  a  re- 
view of  the  proceedings  of  a  Convention  of  Women 
hold  in  Worcester,  Massachusetts,  the  previous  year,  by 
Mrs.  John  Stuart  Mill  appeared  in  the  Westminster 
Review  and  presented  a  strong  plea  for  woman  suf- 
frage. 

In  i86q  John  Stuart  Mill  was  elected  to  Parliament 
ugon  a  woman  suffrage  platforrn.  Before  1867  the 
total  number  of  qualified  voters  in  Great  Bfitam  was* 
abouFotTe  million.  The  Reform  Bill  of  that  year  more 
than  doubled  the  number. .  Tohn  Stuart  Mill  moj 
amendment  to  this  bill  conferring  the  franchise  on 
women  possessing  the  same  qualifications  as  the  men 
under  consideration,  f^pvpnty-three  members  voted 
with  him  and  iq6  against.  A  National  Woman  Suf- 
frage Society  was  formed  in  England  in  1867,  inspired 
by  the  act  of  Mr.  Mill  and  the  unexpected  success  of  his 
amendment.     The  testing  of  the  effect  of  the  Reform 


i6i6  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

Bill  upon  the  political  status  of  women  took  place 
in  1868.  In  1869  the  ancient  right  of  municipal  suf- 
frage was  restored  to  tax  paying  widows  and  spinsters 
of  England  and  Wales,  the  direct  result  of  the  agitation 
in  Parliament.  In  1870  the  British  Parliament  gave 
women  the  right  to  vote  for  members  of  School  Boards, 
and  also  the  right  to  he  plerfpH  fn  Srhon]  Roards. 
Many  women  were  elected  to  these  positions  at  the 
following  election.  One  Dr.  Elizabeth  Garrett  re- 
ceived 47,000  votes  which  it  was  said  was  the  largest 
number  of  votes  any  candidate  in  England  had  ever 
received  for  any  office  at  that  time.  Another,  Miss 
Becker,  was  continuously  re-elected  and  served  as  a 
member  of  the  School  Board  in  Manchester  until  her 
death  in  1890.  Another  Miss  Stevenson  served  on  the 
School  Board  of  Edinburgh  for  32  years,  being  con- 
tinuously re-elected.  All  three  of  these  ladies  were 
woman  suffrage  leaders  and  the  endorsement  of  their 
candidature  was  regarded  as  an  indication  of  popular 
suffrage  sentiment. 

In  TRf^R  p  Avnman  cnffi-og^  Kill  -t^r;^^  jntroduced  in  the 

House  of  Commons  and  was  carried  on  second  reading 
May,    1870,    by    12A   to   QI,    but    its    fnrtbpr   prr^^pHnrp' 

was  stopped  by  the  Government. 

Tn_T88n.    fn11   mifFrnp-p  -^a<;  PvfpnrlpH  tn  ihn  ^^rr^tr^f^1l^  pf 

thejsle  nf  Man,  ^^rh^^rh  jiac  i>p  n^vn  Pnrlinmptif 

In  1884  another  Reform  Bill  passed  the  British 
Parliament  which  further  extended  suffrage  to  men. 
At  the  time  British  Politics  was  reputed  to  be  exceed- 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  ibiy 

ingly  corrupt  and  in  connection  with  the  Reform  Bill, 
a  provision  was  carried  which  rendered  paid  canvassing 
illegal.  The  year  before  a  very  stringent  Corrupt 
Practices  Act  had  passed.  Party  managers  were  in  a 
state  of  distress  over  the  vexed  question  as  to  how 
campaigns  could  be  conducted.  The  brillant  idea  ap- 
peared to  some  of  the  Tory  leaders,  that  as  no  money 
could  be  paid  for  the  work,  it  would  be  appropriate 
work  for  women !  The  Primrose  League  was  formed 
in  consequence  and  the  campaign  of  its  members  was  so 
successful  that  the  Tory  leaders  were  delighted,  and  the 
Liberal  leaders  disgusted.  The  latter  expressed  their 
spite  by  dubbing  these  women  representatives  of  Eng- 
land's noblest  houses  "filthy  witches."  Suddenly  their 
choler  w^as  checked  by  the  timely  suggestion,  that  what 
was  good  for  the  Tories  might  be  equally  good  for  the 
Liberals.  The  Women's  Liberal  Federation  was 
formed  at  once  under  the  presidency  of  the  wife  of  the 
Prime  Minister,  Mrs.  Gladstone.  This,  according  to 
Mrs.  Millicent  Garrett  Fawcett,  in  her  "  Women's  Suf- 
frage," is  the  true  story  of  the  reason  which  led  Brit- 
ish women  to  take  so  active  a  part  in  tbe  partisan  poli- 
tics of  that  Country.  Although  the  majority  of  the 
women  who  entered  political  life,  doubtless  had  no  in- 
terest in  suffrage  at  the  time,  yet  the  political  activity 
of  British  women  enormously  stimulated  the  growth  of 
the  woman  suffrage  movement.     The  women  of  Scot- 

\^r>A    wP|-^   o-iYn"*    mn"^'^^'p^^    ciiffrogp   in    tRRt    anri    thnsf^ 

of  Ireland  in  i8q8.v> 


k 


1618  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

Foji_some  years  past  the  campaign  in  Great  Britain 
has  been  recognized  as  the  storm  center  of  the  world's 
movement.  The— history  of  woman  suffrage  in  that 
Cojintry,  including  as  it  does,  the  early  hereditary  vot- 
ing rights  of  women,  and  an  entire  century  of  unceas- 
ing effort  to  xecover  them,  enlivened  by  many  unex- 
pected and  remarkable  features,  will  doubtless  always 
be  regarded  as  the  most  extraordinary  of  all  lands. 

From  1867  a  National  Society  called  in  later  years 
the  National  Union  of  Woman's  Suffrage  Societies  con- 
ducted a  campaign  of  education  and  organization.  Favor- 
able sentiment  had  increased  to  such  an  extent  that 
in  every  Parliament  after  i88s  a  majority  of  members 
were  pledged  to  the  cause.  /Bills , extending  the  parlia^ 
mentHrj  vote  to  women  passed  second  reading  in  1897, 
1908,  1909,  1 910,  and  191 1,  the  Government  (Prime 
Minister  and  his  cabinet)  preventing  them  from  going 
forward  to  further  stages.  Parliamentary  usage  per- 
mits the  Government^topreempt  as  much  time  for  its 
own  measures  as  it  desires,  and  it  has  become -a-favor- 
jtg  and  unfailing  method  of  the  Government  to  use 
thls_planj£Ljlefeat  any  measure  to  which  it  is  opposed. 
It  therefore  became  obvious  that  the  Government 
wCLuld  never  allow  a  private  member's  bill  to  pass.  The 
aim  of  the  campaign  in  consequence  has  been  to  com- 
pel the  Government  to  take  up  the  question.  In  Febru- 
ary, 1907,  3,000  women  marched  in  procession  through 
the  streets  of  London;  in  October,  1,500  women 
marched  in  Edinburgh  and  during  the  same  month  of 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1619 

the  same  year  2,000  marched  in  Manchester.  In-i^oSi.,^^ 
i^i^.oo*^  ^ynmpn  marrVipH  in  processJon  in  London.  and 
in  loii.  40.000  women,  making  a  line  four  miles  long, 
marr|^fr|  jn  London.  Meetings  indoors  and  out  of  doors 
in  big  halls  and  small  ones  have  been  held  in  every  part 
of  the  United  Kingdom.  Woman  suffja^e  has  been 
made  the  most  talked  of  question  in  the  Country  and 
its  working  adherents  have  enormously  increased  from 
year  to  year. 

Town  and  City  Councils  to  the  number  of  132  have 

passf^rr  resolutions  calling  upon  the  Government  and 
Parliament  to  extend  the  parliamentary  vote.  Among 
the  cities  passing  such  resolutions  were  Edinburgh, 
Glasgow,  Dundee,  Dublin,  Cork,  Limerick,  Liverpool, 
Manchester,  Birmingham,  Sheffield,  New  Castle,  Brigh- 
ton and  Leeds.  The  Mayor  of  Dublin,  in  his  official 
robes,  presented  the  petition  from  that  City  at  the  Bar 
of  the  House  of  Commons.  A  woman  suffrage  com- 
mittee composed  of  50  members  of  Parliament,  with 
Chairman  and  Secretary  was  formed  in  1905  for  the 
purpose  of  pushing  the  measure.  A  petition  signed  by 
200  members  of  Parliament  was  that  year  presented 
to  the  Prime  Minister  requesting  that  a  woman  suf- 
frage bill  be  brought  in.  One  of  the  embarrassing 
difficulties  of  the  campaign  was  the  difference  of  opin- 
ion, among  women  suffragists  as  to  what  women 
should  be  given  the  vote.  A  minority  favored  uni- 
versal suffrage  for  men  and  women,  the  majority  were 
somewhat   divided   as   to   the   standard   of   limitation 


i62o  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

which  should  be  fixed.  By  the  year  1910  the  Commit- 
tee composed  of  Members  agreed  upon  a  woman  suf- 
frage bill  known  as  the  Conciliation  Bill  and  pressed 
its  claims  with  the  result  that  it  passed  second  reading, 
but  was  side-tracked  by  the  Government. 

A  ppiifinn  aQVingr  that  fhk  hjll^hould  be  made  law 
was  signed  by  ^00,000  male  voters  in  January,  totd 
The  Commonwealth  of  Australia  cabled  to  the  Prime 
Minister  in  November,  1910,  the  following  resolution 
which  had  passed  both  Houses  of  the  Federal  Parlia- 
ment:  "That  this  (House,  Senate)  is  of  opinion  that 
the  extension  of  the  Suffrage  to  the  women  of  Australia 
for  States  and  Commonwealth  Parliaments,  on  the 
same  terms  as  men,  has  had  the  most  beneficial  results. 
It  has  led  to  the  more  orderly  conduct  of  Elections,  and 
at  the  last  Federal  Elections  the  women's  vote  in  the 
majority  of  the  States  showed  a  greater  proportionate 
increase  than  that  cast  by  men.  It  has  given  a  greater 
prominence  to  legislation  particularly  affecting  women 
and  children,  although  the  women  have  not  taken  up 
such  questions  to  the  exclusion  of  others  of  wider 
significance.  In  matters  of  Defense  and  Imperial  con- 
cern, they  have  proved  themselves  as  far-seeing  and  dis- 
criminating as  men.  Because  the  reform  has  brought 
nothing  but  good,  though  disaster  was  freely  prop- 
hesied, we  respectfully  urge  that  all  Nations  enjoying 
Representative  Government  would  be  well  advised  in 
granting  votes  to  women,"  but  the  Government  was 
obdurate. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1621 

Meanwhile  the  Women's  Social  and  Political  Union, 
under  the  leadership  of  Mrs.  Pankhurst,  had  come  into 
existence  in  1903.  In  1905  it  made  known  its  policy, 
henceforth  described  as  Militant  Tactics. 

The  effect  of  militancy  upon  the  British  campaign 
will  always  be  a  controversial  point,  inasmuch  as  sev- 
eral additional  elements  became  involved  with  it.     In 
the  words  of  its  advocates  militancy  meant  that  "war 
had  been  declared  against  the  government."     Before 
this  announcement  had  been  made,  a  public  questioning 
of  a  Cabinet  Minister  took  place  in  Manchester.     Such 
privilege  has  been  the  prerogative  of  British  men  for 
Centuries.    The  women  who  did  the  same  thing  found 
themselves    in    prison.       The    consequent    discussion 
aroused  all  Great  Britain.    The  "  Martyrdom  "  wrought 
such  sensational  changes  in  sentiment  that  the  tactics 
begun  as  an  incident  were  continued  as  a  policy.    After 
much  public  announcement  of  their  intentions,  these 
women  met  in  great  meetings  from  which  deputations 
were  appointed  to  carry  a  resolution,  or  petition  to  the 
Prime  Minister  or  the  House  of  Commons.    The  police 
were  always  found  waiting  to  block  their  way  and  a 
crowd  to  watch  proceedings.     In  the  scrimmage  which 
followed  many  women  were  certain  to  be  arrested  who 
straightway   followed   their  sisters  to  Holloway  jail. 
Their  most  intolerant  critics  pronounced  these  women 
political  and  not  criminal  offenders,  yet  the  Govern- 
ment refused  to  put  them  in  the  First  Division  to  which 
all  nations  consign  political  prisoners.     In  the  First 


i622  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

Division  prisoners  are  permitted  to  wear  their  own 
clothes  and  to  have  access  to  books  and  papers;  in  the 
second  they  wear  prison  clothes  and  cannot  have  books 
and  papers.  The  offenders  grew  more  numerous  and 
more  audacious;  the  Government  responded  with 
longer  sentences.  Then,  in  protest,  not  against  impris- 
onment, but  against  being  put  in  the  Criminal  Division, 
these  women  prisoners  began  a  "  hunger  strike "  a-nd 
refused  to  eat.  The  Government  brought  stomach 
pumps  and  fed  them  forcibly.  In  every  case  the  pris- 
oners were  soon  in  such  physical  condition  that  it  be- 
came evident  that  a  continuation  of  the  treatment  would 
end  in  death;  and  the  Government  released  them  before 
the  end  of  their  sentence.  However  severe  the  criticism 
of  the  women  became,  the  punishment  meted  out  to 
them  was  so  illy  fitted  to  the  offense  that  public  opinion 
which  usually  condemned  the  women  for  each  new 
maneuver,  ended  by  veering  around  to  their  side.  The 
courage^deter-mination,  activity,  initiative,  and  wilHftg- 
nes.s  to  seek  martyrdom  stirred  the  admiration  of  large 
classes  of  people  all  over  the  world  and  for  someyears 
the_  Militants  kept  the  world  talking  of  woman  suf- 
frage as Jt  had  never  talked  before!  The  British  G6v-" 
ernment  contributed  to  thisl^eStrit-quite  as  much  material 
as  the  women. 

Mr.  Asquith  stubbornly  refused  to  yield  to  the  con 
tinned  appeal  of  the  Nation,  aroused  by  the  untiring 
energies    of    suffragists   and    suffragettes,    but    finally 
promised,  government    facilities    for   the   Conciliation 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1623 

Bill.  This  promise  he  deliberately  broke,  but  made  a 
counter  promise  that  the  Government  would  propose  a 
Reform  Bill,  which  would  remove  some  of  the  in- 
congruities of  the  present  voting  system  and  at  the 
same  time  extend  the  vote  to  some  200,000  men  who 
had  not  asked  for  it.  To  this  bill  he  promised  facilities 
for  a  woman  suffrage  amendment,  should  one  be  pro- 
posed. All  friends  of  the  Government  assured  the 
suffragists  that  Mr.  Asquith  was  a  man  of  his  word 
and  that  the  long  expected  victory  was  at  hand.  The 
Reform  Bill  was  introduced;  the  Speaker  declared  the 
amendment  out  of  order.  Whether  Mr.  Asquith  de- 
liberately connived  with  the  Speaker  to  evade  his  prom- 
ise, or  whether  it  was  a  turn  as  unexpected  to  him  as  it 
was  to  the  suffragists,  is  an  open  question.  At  this 
point  the  campaign  stands. 

Hundreds  of  militant  women  have  suffered  prison 
and  torture  for  the  Cause.  Misguided  they  may  have 
been  but  no  one  questions  their  loftiness  of  purpose, 
or  purity  of  motive.  On  the  other  hand  thousands  of 
women  out  of  sympathy  with  militant  methods  have 
pursued  their  work  of  education  without  ceasing.  The 
Independent  Labor  Party  which  holds  a  balance  of 
power  in  Parliament  and  which  is  pledged  to  universal 
suffrage  for  men,  has  pledged  itself  that  its  members 
will  vote  against  any  bill  which  extends  suffrage  to  any 
class  of  men  and  which  excludes  women.  The  Con- 
stitutional suffragists  will  now  attempt  to  replace 
Liberals  by  Independent  Labor  candidates  at  all  by- 


i624  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

elections.  The  Militants  are  attempting  to  compel  the 
Independent  Labor  Members  to  enter  upon  a  boycott 
of  Government  measures,  and  are  attacking  Govern- 
ment property. 

In  support  of  their  policy  they  make  many  citations 
of  the  views  of  influential  British  politicians.  Among 
them  is  this :  Mr.  Randolph  Churchill  speaking  in 
191 1  about  the  violent  riots  in  connection  with  the  cam- 
paign for  man  suffrage  in  1832  said:  "It  is  true 
there  was  rioting  in  1832,  but  the  people  had  no  votes 
then  and  had  very  little  choice  as  to  the  alternatives 
they  should  adopt."  Why,  the  ^Militants  say,  does  the 
same  argument  not  apply  to  women? 

The  comment  of  Mrs.  IMillicent  Garrett  Fawcett.  the 
President  of  the  National  Union  of  Women's  Suffrage 
Societies  which  opposes  militant  tactics,  in  her  book  on 
"The  History  of  the  British  Woman  Suffrage  Move- 
ment," in  speaking  of  the  Suffragettes  says : 

"Minor  breaches  of  the  law.  such  as  waving  flags 
and  making  speeches  in  the  lobbies  of  the  Houses  of 
Parliament,  were  treated  more  severely  than  serious 
crime  on  the  part  of  men  has  often  been.  A  sentence 
of  three  months'  imprisonment  as  an  ordinary  offender 
was  passed  in  one  case  against  a  young  girl  who  had 
done  nothing  except  to  decline  to  be  bound  over  to  keep 
the  peace  which  she  was  prepared  to  swear  she  had  not 
broken.  The  turning  of  the  hose  upon  a  suffrage 
prisoner  in  het  cell  in  a  midwinter  night,  and  all  the 
anguish  of  the  hunger  strike  and  forcible  feeding  are 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1625 

other  examples.  All  through  1908  and  1909  every 
possible  blunder  was  committed  with  regard  to  the 
suffrage  prisoners.  A  dead  set  was  made  upon  law- 
breakers, real  or  supposed,  who  were  obscure  and  un- 
known; while  people  with  well-known  names  and  of 
good  social  position  were  treated  with  leniency,  and 
in  some  cases  were  allowed  to  do  almost  anything 
without  arrest  or  punishment." 

John    Bull    has    shown    his   tenacious    stubbornness 
t^-'^^ngh    the    attitude    of    the    Prime    Minic;tpr     but  J;o 


n«;p  tlip  phragp  nf  a  Japane^p  writer  thp  "John  P.nll- 
esses  "  are  possessed  of  th^  -^ame  natinnal  rharartpr  anrl 
tbf  enrl  i<;  r\n\  r\\ffir]]]\  fn  fnrpcpp 

Greece.  —  No  woman  suffrage  organization  exists 
in  Greece  and  no  signs  have  appfnrpH  nf  any  ]-novement 
in  that  r|irprtTnn- — although  individuals  have  openly 
espoused  the  cause.  A  National  Lyceum  of  Women 
was  lately  organized  to  further  the  education  of  women 
and  to  uphold  the  national  ideals  of  Greece.  This 
society  has  done  valiant  service  to  the  country  by  the 
collection  of  funds  and  the  organization  of  relief  serv- 
ice for  the  sick  and  wounded  in  the  Balkan  war.    Peace 

and  ^    settled     ronditiop     will     rlnnVitlnm     rPTTpnl     n     nnnT 

impetus  to  movements  onward  of  the  rights  of  men 
and  women.     _ 

Iceland.  —  Widows   and   unmarried   women,   tax- 


j-^yprg  nr  gpH-cnppnrtprg    wprp  ofivpn  mnnjcipal  Suffrage 

Jp    tRRt      -Xa-iQ02  eligibility  to  any  office  for  which 

tb*"yhnfl    t^''"    ^^'-P".:'!-!;^,:.    woe    nri-Qr.fP,^1    i^mmpn.        Til     T9O7 


i626  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

married  women  were  granted  municipal  suffrage  and 
eligibility  to  municipal  officeSTzSTT  1908  a  new  bill 
granting  municipal  suffrage  to  men  and  women,  25 
years  of  age,  who  pay  a  small  tax,  upon  equal  terms, 
wjth  men  was  passed^u— A  bill  to  extend  the  parliamen- 
tary  vot*'  t^  M^r^m^r.  on  equal  terms  with  men  was 
passed  by  the  Parliament  of  191 2,  but  must  be  ratified 
by  the  Parliament  of  19 13.  As  all  political  parties 
have  pledged  themselves  to  it  it  is  expected  to  pass. 
The  bill  must  then  receive  the  sanction  of  the  Danish 
King  which  will  be  a  mere  form. 

Italy.  —  The  movement  towards  suffrage  for 
women  in  Italy  is  not  new.  Anna  Maria  Mozzoni,  a 
woman  of  rare  intellect,  presented  a  woman  suffrage 
petition  to  the  Italian  Parliament  about  1880.  Patriotic 
women  in  Italy,  as  always,  greatly  aided  the  revolution 
which  established  a  constitutional  government,  and  the 
spirit  they  aroused  never  died.  Unorganized  agitation 
continued  the  education  they  began  and  in  1908  a 
National  Committee  was  formed  in  Rome  to  work 
definitely  for  the  suffrage.  This  Committee  formed 
branches  in  all  the  chief  cities  of  Italy  and  under  the 
direction  of  Countess  Giacinta  Martini,  a  woman  re- 
markably endowed  with  feminine  graces,  strong  char- 
acter, broad  intelligence  and  constancy  of  purpose,  be- 
gan political  work  at  once,  laboring  to  elect  members 
of  the  Lower  House  of  Parliament  who  were  favor- 
able to  woman  suffrage.  They  succeeded  in  several 
instances    in    carrying   their    purposes,    but    the    only 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1627 

definite  suffrage  legislation  yet  attained  is  the  law 
which  extends  votes  for  women  in  trade  for  Boards  of 
Trade  upon  the  same  terms  as  men.  These  Boards 
form  a  sort  of  Court  for  the  adjustment  of  difficulties 
arising  between  employers  and  employees.  Similar 
bodies  exist  in  France  and  Belgium. 

The  Netherlands.  —  For  some  years  the  revision 
of  the  National  Constitution  has  occupied  a  conspicuous 
place  in  Dutch  politics.  The  Liberal  parties  have  fa- 
vored it;  the  conservative  ones  have  opposed  it.  At 
last  the  Parliament  is  attempting  to  deal  with  the  situa- 
tion and  apparently  the  constitution  will  soon  be 
amended.  Looking  forward  to  this  event  Dutch  wornen 
have  agitated  the  questionjoi-equal  political  rights  and 
have  succeeded  in  making  their  claim  a  political  issiie. 
In  proportion  to  population,  the  organization  is  stronger 
than  in  Great  Britain  or  America,— 

Norway.  —  In  1833,  The  Storthing  (National  Par- 
liament), passed_2_-bill-granting  municipal  suffrage  to- 
women.  ^^^  bill  w*"  i"''t  permitted  to  become  a  law, — 
but  from  that  time  nearly  every  session  recorded  some 
relief  from  their  legal  disabilities  granted  to  women. 
In  1889  all  women  who  paid  a  school  tax  were  per- 
rnitted  to  vote  on  all  school  questions,  and  women  with 
children,  who  paid  no  tax  were  permitted  to  vote  on 

tures.  Jn  1896  the  tax  paying  qualification  was  re- 
duced for  the  municipal  suffrage  of  men  and  a  con- 
siderable enlargement  of  the  voters'  lists  was  made. 


i628  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

In  1901,  municipal  suffrage  was  made  universal  for 
men,  and  was  extended  to  tax  paying^  women.  In 
1907  municipal  suffrage  was  made  universal  for  woman 
as  it  was  for  men.  Tax  paying  women  were  granted 
parliamentary  or  full  suffrage,  including  eligibility. 
At  the  same  time  parliamentary  suffrage  was  made 
universal  for  men.  A  woman  could  vote  upon  taxes 
paid  by  herself;  or  by  herself  and  husband  together 
where  there  was  joint  property;  or  a  married  woman 
could  vote  upon  property  in  her  own  right.  This 
action  was  undoubtedly  hastened  by  the  Norwegian 
agitation  for  National  Independence  which  had  drawn 
the  people  closer  together  in  their  common  demand 
and  lifted  their  ideals  to  greater  heights  through  the 
intensity  of  national  feeling  engendered  by  the 
struggle.  The  Swedish  Government  magnanimously 
granted  the  separation  without  recourse  to  the  mis- 
fortunes of  war. 

The  women  had  stood  boldly  and  helpfully  by  the  side 
of  Norwegian  men  throughout  the  campaign,  and  the 
men  were  grateful.    In  1905,  .^00,000  adult  Norwegian 

women,   an   pnormnnt;  j'trnpnrtinn  of  the  total  numbgr, 

petitioned  ParliamenLioL-thc-parliamentary  vote.  The 
President  of  the  Storthing  reported  the  matter  from 
the  chair  and  the  members  received  it  standing,  in  ac- 
knowledgment of  their  sympathy.  In  May.  loi^.  the 
last  tax  qualification  for  women  was  removed  and  uni- 
versal suffrage  for  women  bprame  law  About  2c^o^QOO 
women  vrfrf  enfrnrrhifr^d  hy  thf  art 


MISS   P.   C.   SING 

Captain  of  six  hundred  "Amazons."   and   one   of  the  most   eloquent 

orators  In  the  Chinese  Woman  Suffrage  Movement 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1631 

Amono-    the    benefits    of    woitkhi    ^nffmgp    alrp;i<]^ 
demonstrated  are:      (i)   A  stringent  child  labor  law 

mnr),     tnrhirlHintr    fiiipjr_^ieilL    Uf    dlJldieil     Ulldei      14 

vpTrc  nf  n,o-p  nnri   impf^gi'ng-  strict  conditions   for  the 
prn^-ilfiympfif-  r.f  ]-^^y<i  nprj  p-jrls  between  Id  and  1 8  years 

of-ag^r {'>}    FijiTal  pay    fnr   pqnal    wnrlr   in    fjlOSt   g^OV- 

ernment  positions,  chiefly  post  and  telegraph  Hpf|<-t;Viip«;^ 
which  are  largely  held  by  women.  Two  hundred  and 
ten  women  were  serving  as  Town  Councillors  in  191  o 
and  379  alternates.  Of  these  9  Councillors  and  17 
alternates  were  serving  in  the  City  Council  of  Chris- 
tiania,  the  Capital.  No  woman  has  been  elected  to  a 
seat  in  Parliament,  but  a  woman  was  elected  as  alternate 
in  1910,  and  in  that  capacity  has  occasionally  occupied 
a  seat. 

PnPTpr.AT    -^J^    Constitution    of    thp    Pnrtnoriipsp 

T?.g.piihHr  rlopg  pnj-  forbid  women  to  vote.__  An  organiza- 
tion of  women  designed  to  further  the  cause  of  repub- 
licanism, conceived  the  idea  of  testing  the  validity  of 
a  woman's  vote.  Carolina  Angelo,  a  doctor  of  medicine 
in  191 1  applied  for  registration  as  a  voter,  and  when 
denied,  appealed  her  case  to  the  highest  court  of  Por- 
tugal. The  judge.  Dr.  Affonso  Costa,  sustained  her 
demand  and  declared  that  that  one  woman  was  vested 
with  full  political  righ<:s.  Dr.  Angelo  cast  her  first  vote 
at  the  next  election,  with  considerable  ceremony.  Ten 
women  accompanied  her,  and  the  men  present  received 
her  with  hospitable  applause.  The  common  opinion 
prevailed  at  the  time  that  any  Portuguese  woman  could 


1632  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

secure  the  vote  by  the  same  process  followed  by  Dr. 
Angelo,  but  that  her  enfranchisement  had  not  en- 
dowed other  women  with  a  vote.  The  President  and 
several  members  of  the  Cabinet  announced  themselves 
favorable  to  parliamentary  action  and  the  women  work- 
ers are  confident  of  ultimate  victory  for  their  cause. 
The  movement  met  with  the  tragic  misfortune  of  sud- 
den death  by  heart  failure  of  Dr.  Angelo,  but  others 
have  come  forward  to  take  her  place  and  the  organiza- 
tion is  gaining  strength  steadily.  Definite  Parliamen- 
tary action  is  still  pending  in  1913. 

RouMANiA.  —  In  1910  a  treatise  on  "Women  in 
Roumania"  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Stourdza  appeared. 
He  severely  condemned  the  general  code  of  law  mod- 
eled on  the  Code  Napoleon  under  which  Roumanian 
women  were  living.  A  widespread  interest  was 
aroused,  and  this  focused  in  191 1  in  the  formation  of 
a  committee  to  work  for  the  removal  of  these  ancient 
laws  and  for  the  suffrage.  In  19 13,  this  Committee  was 
formally  organized  into  a  National  Association.  A 
paper  in  behalf  of  the  rights  of  women,  educational, 
social,  and  political,  is  published  by  Mr.  Stourdza. 

Russia.  —  A  temporary  withdrawal  of  long-con- 
tinued oppression  of  the  people  by  the  Russian  Gov- 
ernment offered  opportunity  for  general  agitation.  A 
party  arose  which  was  permitted  to  conduct  a  cam- 
paign in  favor  of  a  constitution.  A  Duma,  or  Na- 
tional Parliament,  had  been  promised  by  the  Czar,  and 
events  seemed  to  point  to  a  time  when  Russia  would 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1633 

yield  to  the  progress  of  events  and  take  her  place  among 
the  constitutional  monarchies  of  the  world.  In  natural 
response  to  the  freedom  of  speech  and  action  allowed 
at  the  time,  a  society  called  the  Russian  Union  of  De- 
fenders of  Women's  Rights,  was  formed  in  1905.  It 
joined  its  demands  to  the  general  liberative  movement, 
emphasizing  its  claims  for  women.  Local  branches 
were  established  all  over  Russia  and  hope  beat  high 
in  the  hearts  of  Russian  men  and  women.  Had  the 
constitutional  movement  been  permitted  to  develop 
normally  it  is  believed  by  the  advocates  of  "  women's 
rights  "  in  Russia,  that  men  and  women  would  have  had 
an  equal  voice  in  the  new  government.  For  many  years 
women,  equally  with  men  had  given  up  family  re- 
lations and  domestic  peace  that  they  might  preach  the 
faith  of  "  freedom  of  conscience,  speech,  assembly,  and 
association,"  for  their  nation.  Hundreds  of  them  had 
found  death  upon  the  executioner's  block  and  thousands 
more  had  walked  the  trail  to  mysterious  and  dread 
Siberia.  Such  capacity  for  sacrifice  and  patriotic  serv- 
ice has  compelled  men  to  regard  women  as  equal  com- 
rades in  the  struggle  for  the  common  welfare. 

A  Duma  was  established  in  1905  and  the  usual  free- 
dom of  thought  and  action  guaranteed  by  civilized 
lands  was  promised,  but  the  elections  were  so  controlled 
that  reactionaries  composed  a  considerable  portion  of 
the  members.  The  Czar  reserved  to  himself  a  veto 
upon  all  acts  and  in  consequence  the  promised  freedom 
resolved  itself  speedily  into  a  new   form  of  the  old 


i634  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

tyranny.  The  old  way  of  cbeqWirig-  prpgr'^^q  by  HHin^ 
or  imprisoning  its  Ip^Hprc  wnn  ng-T)''<^  ^-fp^imed  and  the 
life  and  liberty  of  woman  suffragists,  in  common  with 
other  reformers,  were  no  longer  safe.  In  1909,  a  band 
o f  women,  some  of  whom  were  connected  with  cl65r' 


friends  of  the  Government,  succeeded  in  securmgTOTT- 


sent  to  hold  a  Woman's  rnna-rpcc  in  St  Petersburg 
TI1P  ^|-iprpggi'r.n  wag  mQrlf>  wi'tVi  tj^e  provision  attached 
that  no  foreign  woman  should  be  permitted  to  attend 
the  Conpre^s  and  that  the  program  should  be  submitted 
tn  ^  (}n\rprnmpr\\  Censor.  Everv  topic  which  indicated 
discussion  which  might  include  criticism  of  the  es- 
tablished order  was  carefully  eliminated  by  the  Censor, 
yet  for  one  entire  week  hundreds  of  women  sat  to- 
gether in  a  convention  and  the  press  of  St.  Petersburg, 
as  well  as  that  of  the  Provinces  was  filled  with  the 
news  of  that  wonderful  phenomenon,  a  Woman's  Con- 
gress.    "Whrp  ymmrn  vrriil   Iniiiii-    In  llii-ji   Awn  Prnv 

I'nrpg^     jj-lgpirpH     by    rx-^^r    lir^pp     anri     fQUr^g^     '^ 'Vl     ?"^''''1 

permigcion   to    report   this    CongroGo   to   thcfr — tovvii&- 

women,  nearly  all  tlip  Hm^pi-nr^rc  f^rb^idf  thfm  to  do  it. 
One  woman  returning  from  a  Congress  of  the  Inter- 
national Woman  Suffrage  Alliance,  gained  permission 
to  give  a  report  of  the  meeting,  but  was  arrested  upon 
the  charge  of  having  implied  that  the  Russian  Govern- 
ment was  behind  the  times!  After  paying  a  fine  of 
$50  and  giving  a  promise  to  speak  no  more  upon  that 
subject,  she  was  given  her  freedom.  The  movements  in 
Russia  for  the  rights  of  men  and  women  are  like  the 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1635 

smouldering  tires  of  a  volcano.  An  occasional  burst 
nfs]iiuke  gives  evidence  of  theFr  presence,  wnUe^tlTe 
(jvprlyino-  rnat  of  white  ashes  conceals  their  real  nature. 
Some  day  an  eruption  will  send  the  powers  ot  oppres- 
sion  and  reaction  to  destruction  and  liberate  a  long 
suffering  people.  It  is  unthinkable  that  men  will  not 
protect  women  in  their  claim  to  equal  political  rights 
when  that  day  comes. 

Servia. —  In  this  land,  the  ancient  feudal  rights 
extended  to  women,  but  have  fallen  into  disuse.  In 
1906,  the  Servian  National  Women's  Association  was 
formed  and  shortly  after  the  President,  Mme.  Miloveck, 
attempted  to  use  her  local  vote.  She  was  refused  and 
took  her  cause  to  the  courts.  The  judge  handed  down 
the  remarkable  decision  "  According  to  law  you  have 
a  local  vote,  but  you  cannot  use  this  vote,  as  it  is  not 
the  custom  of  women  to  make  use  of  their  local  vote." 
The  women  have  pursued  their  work  of  education,  but 
all  efforts  to  secure  further  rights  for  women  were 
soon  lost  in  the  all  absorbing  Balkan  war.  Servian 
women  in  common  with  all  the  women  of  these  coun- 
tries have  taken  no  inconsiderable  part  in  the  work 
of  caring  for  the  sick  and  wounded,  and  have  nobly 
shared  the  sacrifices  which  every  people  make  in  time 
of  war. 

Sweden. —  Swedish   w^omen,   widows,   and   unmar- 


ried "rate  pavers,  were  given  a  vote  in  1862.  In_iQOQ 
any  womai-j  qualified  to  vote  was  made  eligible  to 
municipal  office.     As  five  town  councils  e]er\  rp^rnhprg 


1636  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

of  the  Upper  House  of  Parliament,  women  thus  elected 

town  councillors  were  elected,  1 1  having  a  right  to  vote 
for  members  of  parliament.     In  iQi.^  a  Government 

mPQQiirp     w^^c)     I'ntrnrliirpri     CTranfi'nrr    parHai-nprif  ary    guf- 


fraorp^fn  -^yni^^p     Tf  Viar|  j-lip  approval  of  the  King  and  ^ 

passed  the  Lower  House,  but  was  defeated  iia  the  Upper^^^^ 

House.  The  Swedish  Woman  Suffrage  Association 
has  the  unique  distinction  of  having  branches  above  _ 
thej)olar  circle  and  in  proportion  to  population  of  hav- 
ing the  largest  membership  of  any  country  in  the  world! 
Municipal  suffrage  is  based  upon  a  property  qualifica- 
tion and  one  indi\adual  may  cast  many  votes,  the  high- 
est number  of  votes  allowable  being  forty.  Many 
women  are  qualified  to  cast  this  number,  and  as  the 
S^vHish-  people  nrf'  1ogirn1  minded,  it  will  soon  follow 
that  the  inrnnsistenry  nf  permitting  a  woman  to  cast 
forty  votes  in_oop  el^rtinn  and  none  in  another  will  be 
removeii- 

Spain. —  No  w^mnn   su^^^g^  nrgnni-^nti^n  h;is  n'L_ 
ypf  Upf>„  p^graniVpH  in  ^pf]|n.  but  a  member  of  Parlia- 

ment    ^•|^j-]-pHiirprl    a    hill    in    t^tt    to    extcud    Suffrage  _tO__ 

womon,  grrrndication  that  unorganized  sentiment  exists. 
Switzerland. —  Nosufifiage-xights  have  been  con- 
ferred upon  women  in  Switzerland,  but  a  regularly  con- 
stituted National  Woman  Suffrage  Association  has 
conducted  an  active  campaign  in  its  behalf  for  some 
years. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1637 

The  United  States  of  America 

As  a  special  article  treats  of  Woman  Suffrage  in  the 

United  States,  it  is  unnecessary  to  add  comment  upon 

it  here. 

Suffrage  in  Britisfi  Colonies 

Attstratja  and  Nf.w  Zealand.—  Wornan_suff rage 
upon  the  same  terms  as  men  was  granted  in  New  Zea- 
land in  1893;  South  Australia  in  i 8q3  ;  W  est  Australia, 
1899;  Federal  Suffrage  for  all  women  of  the  Com- 
monwealth__Qi_-AustraIia,  190? ;  New  South  Wales. 
1902;  Tasmaiiia,»JL9D3 ;  Queensland,  1905;  Victoria, 
1909^ 

The  woman  suffrage  campaign  in  Australia  lasted 
thirty-nine  years.  For  severwteen  years  before  the 
women  of  Victoria  were  enfranchised  the  Lower  House 
had  been  willing  to  pass  a  woman  suffrage  measure,  but 
the  Upper  House  obstinately  refused. 

The  total  number  of  women  vni-erg;  in  Australia  was 
^QOO.OOO  in    Tonn       Women  are  nn\   pji^iblp  tn   ParUa-" 

ment  in  the  States  of  New  South  Wales  and  West^ 
Australia,  They  are  eligible  in  all  the  other  States 
and  in  the  Federal  Parliament,  They  are  not  eligible 
in  New  Zealand. 

Miss  Margaret  Hodge  in  her  report  for  Australia  at 
the  Congress  of  the  International  Alliance  at  Stock- 
holm in  191 1  said  : 

"In  every  State  the  enfranchisement  of  women  has 
led  to  improved  legislation  affecting  the  welfare  of 
Home  and  Children,    Laws  dealing  with  drink,  crime, 


1638  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 


vice,   gambling,   have   tightened  up.   and  tlie   ^reafp^t 

vifTinnrft     in     nhm.rr.     ir^     fhn     p^^j-pp|-|p,p     ^^     I'nf^nt     life 
hy    prnviHi'nnr   frm'tnorl    .•)^nj.p^|n,.^    fp,^-   hOrird^^-^^t    ^^-"'^ 
dren.    pure    milk    and     fnnri    cyppij^p,    v-lnrntinn    fnr 

mothere,  and  the  p^taUJoVimnnt  -  f  Fi  m    TTintlrrgartcnE 

for  Xhp  f fining  nf  rhrirfirtpr;  Hiildren's  playgrounds 
for  healthy  recreation;  and  the  substitution  of  Chil- 
dren's Courts  and  the  Probation  System  for  the  old 
thoughtless,  cruel  methods  of  dealing  with  juvenile 
delinquents." 

In  1903,  the  first  year  after  women  won  the  Com- 
monwealth franchise  equal  pay  for  equal  work  was 
established  in  the  Federal  Public  Service. 

Canada^  "Wnmrn  have  municipal  suffrage  as  fol- 
lows :  ~~- 

1.  Ontario  —  granted  1884. 

2.  Nova  Scotia  —  granted  1887. 

3.  Manitoba  —  granted  1887. 

4.  British  Columbia  —  granted  1888. 

5.  Northwest  Territory  —  granted  1888. 

6.  Quebec  —  granted  1889. 

South    Africa.— Muniripal    elerfinr^^;    jp    ^n  jItp 

.Stafp«^    nf    South    AfnVn    are    based   npnn  a   taxpaying 
qiialification  which  is  equal  for  men  and  women. 

Woman  Suffrage  in  Asia 

BtJRMAH, — A  mnnin'pal  g^v^^'ninent  was  p^ranted  to 
Pano-nnn,  fliP  rnpi'fol  r^f  f^^^fmah,  about  t882.    \Vompn 


WnUAN  SUFFRAGE  1639 

were  s^iven  a  vote  upon  the  '^^111'^  ^rrriTi  with  mpn,  a 
tavp;^yjn^-  qualjficatinn  hein.cy  required  of  both.  Bud- 
(llii^f,  Mn1ia]-|impr1-jn,  -jnrl  r^^^^nrinn  women  not  onr^ 
rm^-^ialifjprl    \n    vntg^    but    have    done   so    regularly,  for 

Ijsldia. —  Several  cities  in  India,  including  Bombay. 
which  h^^vp  heen  permitted  municipal  self-government 

by  the   British    nm-prnnipnt     havp  gi'vf|-|   T|Vntppn    a   \-5te 

npnn  flip  same  terms  as  men.  Parsee,  Hindu,  and 
Mohammedan  women  have  availed  themselves  of  the 
privilege  in  large  numbers.  There  are  no  State  As- 
semblies and  no  National  Parliament,  so  that  a  munici- 
pal vote  is  all  the  self-government  accorded  to  men. 

China. —  During  the  period  of  reconstruction  after 
the  Revolution,  there  was  a  vigorous  demand  by  women 
of  Canton,  Shanghai,  Nanking,  Hankow,  and  Peking, 
for  a  vote  in  the  new  Republic.  The  Revolutionists  of 
Canton  Province  assigned  ten  seats  to  women  in  the  Pro- 
vincial Assembly  (State  Legislature)  and  decreed  that 
these  places  should  be  filled  by  the  votes  of  women. 
All  women  interested  were  permitted  to  vote  and  the 
ten  women  were  elected.  One  resigned  and  the  nine 
others  served.  They  were  all  educated  women,  teach- 
ers, or  wives  of  prominent  merchants.  They  spoke 
upon  all  measures  before  the  body  which  interested 
them  with  as  much  composure  as  any  man  member 
and  were  listened  to  with  distinguished  attention. 

During  the  sittings  of  the  provisional  constitutional 
convention  at  Nanking  about  thirty  women  demanded 


1640  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

a  hearing  and  presented  the  unusual  but  sound  plea  that 
inasmuch  as  they  had  been  members  of  the  Revolu- 
tioimry^Society-aiid-had  borne  all  the  burdens  it  mi.- 
posed^xq-ually-with  men  members,  even  to  the  risking 
of  theirjives  in  the  war,  they  now  demanded  an  equal  _^ 
share,  in  the  privileges  resultant  upon  that  war.  The 
Convention  passed  a  resolution  declaring  its  belief  4n — 
the  theory  of  woman  suffrage  but  accompanied  it  by 
the  further  belief  that  the  "  time  was  not  ripe  for  it." 

The  Chinese  women  have  formed  a  National  Woman 
Suffrage  Association  which  was  admitted  to  member- 
ship in  the  International  Woman  Suffrage  Alliance  at 
its  Congress  in  Budapest  in  June,  191 3,  forming  the 
twenty-seventh  nation  represented  in  that  body. 

The  Philippines. —  Among  the  first  acts  of  the  Phil- 
ippine Assembly  was  to  make  the  election  of  women  on 
school  boards  compulsory.  A  bill  to  extend  suffrage 
to  them  was  introduced  in  the  Assembly,  but  was  not 
pushed  as  it  was  believed  that  the  American  Congress 
would  veto  it. 

(See  Questions  for  Review  Page  1781.) 


PART  II 
Woman  Suffrage  in  the  United  States 

By   MARY    GRAY   PECK 
The  Early  Period 

WHEN  European  voyagers  and  colonists  set  foot 
on  this  continent,  prehistoric  and  historic  soci- 
eties met.     Men  and  women  amistnmprl  to  thf^jjiopfr^ 
-  of  chivalry,  and  its  theojnci^^^  Af-^r^A^ur^n  .^f  wnmfr 

were  confronted  wit^  ^^^  '^^-^y  <^f  h'f^  ^"d  thought  of 
^  their  savage  ancestors:  natiT'^l^y  thpy  nmrn  ntnrtlnri 
Among  the  Iroquois  Indians,  the  squaw  carried  on  the 
agriculture  and  commerce  of  the  tribe:  she  held  the 
jxins  of  business,  and  her  property  rights  gave  her  a 
vseat  in  the  tribal  council.  Thomas  Chalkeley  writes 
of  Indians  farther  south,  "  Some  of  the  most  esteemed 
of  their  women  do  sometimes  speak  in  their  councils. 
I  asked  our  interpreter  why  they  suffered  the  women 
to  speak,  and  he  answered,  '  Some  women  are  wiser 
than  some  men.'  He  told  me  they  had  not  done  iltly-' 
thing  for  many  years  without  the  counsel  of  an  ancient 
grave  woman,  who  I  observed  spoke  much  in  their 
councils." 

While  the  legal  status  of  women  in  the  American 

1641 


1642  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

colonies  was  inferior  to  that  of  the  squaws  they  dis- 
possessed, they  were  restive  under  their  disabihties, 
and  individually  protested  or  disregarded  them.  Among 
these  protestants  was  Mistress  Ann  Hutchinson,  a 
brilliant  woman  of  wealth  and  breeding,  who  with 
her  family  was  banished  from  Massachusetts  because 
she  maintained  her  right  to  speak  in  her  own  home 
to  mixed  assemblies  on  religious  themes..  A  more 
humorous  assertion  of  feminine  prerogative  was  that 
when  the  women  of  a  certain  jjarish  refused  toTay 
-af^td-p'^bomTets  wliirh  were  too  decorative  to  suiC~thek^ 
miftister: — bi  order  to  yefWf-  from  th^  '^n^^unt'^rTrith 
dignity,   the   im'nicitpr  rnrnmanded   the   husbands  to   see  ^ 

to  the  matter.  But  the  commands  of  the  hii<;banfk 
fell  on  deaf  ears,  and  not  even  the  colonial  assembly  _ 
prevailed  no.  the.,  wnmen  tr>_a1ter^he  rii;re~nf  their  her^d- 
gearjjll  thp3^-wnrp  tirerl  nf  tha^style.  A  remarkable 
instance  of  a  strongminded  woman's  power  to  assert 
herself  against  custom  is  found  in  colonial  Maryland, 
where  Lord  Baltimore's  estate  was  administered  and 
his  executive  office  filled  for  a  considerable  time  by 
Margaret  Brent,  who  claimed  in  consequence  two  votes 
in  the  provincial  assembly. 

Women  took  a  leading  part  in  the  struggle  for  inde- 
pendence. Betsy  Ross  of  Philadelphia  made  the  first 
flag.  Mercy  Otis  Warren,  sister  of  James  Otis,  was 
the  first  person  to  counsel  separation  from  Great  Brit- 
ain. General  Tarleton  called  the  home  of  Mrs.  Bre- 
vard of  Mecklenburg,  S.  C,  where  he  had  headquarters. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1643 

"The  Hornet's  Xest  of  America."  When  another  Brit- 
ish general  threatened  to  burn  up  the  house  of  a  loyal 
woman,  she  replied  that  she  would  be  glad  to  see  it 
burn,  since  she  well  knew  he  never  would  burn  any- 
thing he  expected  to  keep!  In  the  darkest  hour  of  the 
Revolution  at  the  close  of  1776,  Hannah  Arnett  of 
Elizabeth.  N.  J.,  listened  at  the  door  when  her  husband 
and  other  leading  merchants  of  the  city  were  planning 
to  accept  amnesty  offered  by  the  enemy,  and  in  her 
indignation  at  their  faint-heartedness.  burst  in  upon 
them  and  delivered  a  speech '  so  electrifying  that  it 
changed  them  into  heroes.  / 

Nor  were  thesespirited  w^omen  content  with  de- 
manding  liberty  for  their  country.     Ihey  were  the  first 

-crfTfiodern  times  to  demand  it  for  their  sex,  as  is  seen 
in  the  famous  letter  written  by  Abigail  Adams  to  her 
husband.  John  xAdams.  when  the  latter  was  sitting 
with  the  Continental  Congress,  in  March.  1776.  "I 
long  to  hear  you  have  declared  an  independency,  and 
by  the  way,  in  the  new  code  of  laws  which  I  suppose 
it  will  be  necessary  for  you  to  make,  I  desire  you  would 
remember  the  ladies,  and  be  more  favorable  to  them 
than  your  ancestors.  Do  not  put  such  unlimited  power 
into  the  hands  of  husbands.  Remember,  all  men  would 
be  tyrants  if  they  could.  If  particula^care  and  atteft.- 
tion  are  not  paid  to  the  ladies,  we  are  determined  to 
foment  a  jrebellion,  and  will  not  hold__ourse!yes'  bound " 
to  ob€^z-.any_Ia.ws  in- which  we  have  no  voice  or  repre^ 

jjentation."     Like   her   friend,    Mercy    Otis    Warren, 


i644  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

Abigail  Adams  deplored  the  educational  disabilities  of 
women  as  keenly  as  the  economiic  and  legal. 

Another  influential  woman  of  that  day,  Hannah  Lee 
Corbin  of  Virginia,  sister  of  General  Richard  Henry 
Lee,  wrote  her  brother  protesting  against  the  taxation 
of  women  without  allowing  them  to  vote.     It  is  on 
record  that  at  various  times  women  did  vote  in  Vir- 
ginia, Massachusetts,  and  New  Jersey.     Full  suffrage  ^ 
was  specifically  granted  to  the  women  of  the  last  named 
state  bv  the  constitution  of  July  ^  Ly'/>6,  Lwu  day&~b£=_ 
fore  the  "Hf  Ha  ration   ni   Independence,   and  in^^TTQGf 
and  1707  legislativ-e-enactmentsxanfimied  them  intKe 
•jright     Th^ranrli^gp  wfj«;  illegally  taken  from  tHenrtn 
1^7,  l^p^aitsp  they  w^fe  availing"  themselves  of  it!    J-L^ 
is_well-to  reca^Ur-ifl— these^  days  when  legislatures„  _are 


threatening  to  penalize  men  for  failing-  to- -vote,  how  - 
a  hundred  years   ago   they   disfranchised   women  be-_ 
cause  they  voted.  , 

The  status  of  women  during  the  colonial  period  and 
fnrjh^  generations  following  the  Revolution  was  that 
oi-  werrren  under  the-  eommon  law  of  England.  The 
wife  had  no  legal  e.7^i|^tf"^P|  ^^^d  her  property  belongeH^ 
to  her  hu'^ibnnd  As  wid^w,  she  regained  some  finan- 
cial independence,  with  dower  right  during  life  to  a 
fraction  of  her  husband's  estate.  As  spinster,  she  might 
hold  and  will  property  and  engage  in  four  general  occu- 
pations. The  wife  had  no  legal  control  over  her  chil- 
dren or  their  earnings,  nor  over  her  own  earnings.  If 
a  system  had  been  devised  with  the  purpose  of  degrad- 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1645 

ing  marriage  and  impelling  women  to  remain  outside 
it,  none  could  have  been  more  beautiful  in  its  complete- 
ness than  the  common  law. 

From  the  Revolution  to  the  Civil  War 

As,.aQOn  as  increasing  population  and  expanding  man- 
jLifacture  in  the  new  nation, forcejd-wom^u^- legacy  aft4-. 
economically  inferior  as  tl^fy  w^re    to  rompptp  \vii-h_ 
men  in  ^^<^  fff^^t  to  support  theniselves_and  those  de- 
pendent iipnn   thpm^llifir  <  i-^^tig-aianfUrap   I'n   the  labor_ 
marVfj-    ]^prame   eyident        Thev    were    without   political 

representation,  and  the  social  system  under_which  jthey    /f^ 
]\yer{  was   far  less  humane  than  that  of  the  Roman 
Empire  in_the_period  of  its  decadence.  ' 

Thp  invpntinn  o^  marbmery  m  the  textile  industries 
was  followed  early  in  the  19th  century  by  the  entry  oT  -^ 
wr'men  and  girls  into  thf.  factories.  Sweated  labor 
was  employed  without  control  or  limit.  Wages  paid 
women  were  incredibly  low,  the  hours  were  intolerable, 
the  conditions  unspeakable.  To  crown  their  misery, 
wages  could  be  and  largely  were  collected  by  their  hus- 
bands, it  they  were  so  unfortunate  as  to  be  married. 
Sweated  labor  commonly  received  from  9  to  15  cents 
a  day,  and  25  cents  was  the  ordinary  wage  for  seam- 
stresses. 

The  first  investigation  into  wages  and  working  con- 
ditions  ofjvomen  was  made  by  ^Matthew  Carey,  a  pub- 
lishe^  of  Philadelphia,   in    1828.     The_facts  he  pub-  \ 

lished  created  a  widespread  indignation  among  womenj    -^T 


1646  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

but  little  result  followed,  for  in  a  report  publislied  in 
Boston  in  1844  we  find  practically  the  same  scale  of 
wages.  "  Mary  Mannid  makes  pants  for  25  cents  a 
pair,  I  pair  a  day,  which  means  $1.50  a  week;  Hannah 
Silsey  has  to  work  14  hours  a  day  to  earn  $2  a  week, 
and  at  making  striped  shirts  can  only  earn  $1  a  week; 
Mrs.  Oakes  earns  $1.12^  cents  a  week."  These 
women  went  on  strike.. 

It  was  inevitable  that  these  conditions  should  result 
nrg^il];7arinn  oT^wpfking  womeu^or  Self  preserva- 


tion, and  such  organizations  began  in  the  first  quarter 
of  the  nineteenth  century?  From  that  time,  wage- 
earning  women  h^^yp  fnng-ht  <;i'f1p  hy  t^irle  with  workjng- 
mexLJor  better  conditions  in  the  labor  workL 

Conditions    were    scarcely    more    tolerable    among 

women  of  the  propertied  and  professional  classes.     If 

' the^s^jvoinen  were  unmande4-aiiilhad  no  income  they^ 

eitlifiiL-Ai^^ere   dependents  -in  the  home  of—ji^latives  or 

earned    slender    rpiniit-)^rati^i"'     ^'J    i%-pquipped     musir; 

teachers,  governessesjor  private  schoaLtearher^.    It  was 

^/C^ie-vitalile  that  their  precarious   and  humiliating  eco- 

\^    nomic^  status  should  rouse_tliem  to  revolt.     This  revolt 

began  with_  the  movement   for~edncational-privileges. 


and^as  early  as  181 7  Emma  Willard  secured  the  first 


legislative  appropriatiorL-ior  rfirk/  e.diira<-jnn  frnm  the 
New  York  legislature.     Chief  among  those  who  saw 


the  financiaTvalue  dfeducation  was  Catherine  Beecher, 
eldest  sister  of  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe.  Although  one 
of  the  most  energetic  and  masterful  spirits  of  her  day. 


'  "  ^ ' '  , ' '  i '   '         > 


FRANCES  WRIGHT, 

One  of  tlio  first  champions  of  women's  rights. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1649 

Catherine  Beecher  was  an  opponent  of  woman  suffrage, 
and  to  the  end  of  her  life  never  saw  anything  incon- 
gruous between  her  pubHc  activities  and  her  custom  of 
sitting  mute  on  a  pubHc  platform  where  she  was  billed 
to  make  an  address,  while  some  man  read  her  speech 
for  her!  It  was  Mi^^  Rperher's  opinion  that  women 
were  the  natural  teachers'  of  children,  and  in  her 
'i Remedy  for  the  ^^'r^no-g  nf  Wnmpn  "  '^hp  writes: 
"  There  are  more  than  2,000,000  children  in  this  coun- 
try without  any  school.  There  are  probably  as  many 
more  in  schools  taught  by  men,  zvho  could  be  far  more, 
fjpjjf,p,'^'qffly  fuip]nyr(^  ill  rhnp<;  iir  mjlh  oi'  otiwf  ma.9 
'  culine  emplomncnt.  It  would  require  200,000  women 
to  meet  this  demand."  She  thought  it  was  contrary  to 
'*'  Divine  intention,"  a  phrase  much  used  by  both  sides 
in  discussing  these  problems,  that  women  should  drudge 
at  mechanical  trades  14  hours  a  day  for  a  pittance, 
while  men  were  doing  their  natural  work  at  good  sal- 
aries, and  doing  it  poorly.  It  was  the  working  girl  and 
her  hopeless  outlook  that  was  uppermost  in  Miss 
Beecher's  mind.  So,  too,  it  was  the  tragedy  of  the 
working  girl  which  lay  heavy  on  the  heart  of  Mary 
Lyon,  who  dreamed  of  founding  a  school  "  where  every 
.\,.^.^r^n^  giV1  ;n  A/rac;».arhn^etts  can  get  an  ef]vr^t\nn  if  she 
^  uiantci  it."  Not  Miss  Beecher's  normal  school  train- 
ing was  the  goal  of  Mary  Lyon,  but  that  far-off,  shin- 
ing, forbidden  freedom  of  the  soul.  Higher  Education. 
As  the  result  of  a  life  as  consecrated  to  a  vision  as  any 
ever  lived,  Mt.  Holyoke,  the  first  school  for  the  higher 


1650  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

education  of  women  in  the  modern  world,  was  opened 
in  1837;  but  it  was  discreetly  called  a  seminary. 

Meantime^in  1833,  Oberlin  College  had  been  opened- 


in  Ohio,  establishing^  the  precedent  of  higher  co-edu- 
ca_tioiL_.  which  has  been  followed  by  all  western  state. 
uiUAiersities,  and  which  is  largely  responsible  for  the 
pfreater  consideration  for  women  which  is  characteristic 
of  the  West. 

Contemporaneously  with  these  movements  in  the 
industrial  and  educational  worlds,  women  began  the_ 
struggle  for  entrance  into  the  professions.  ^_Wornen 
have  alwaysJifiOXlbfijaJDrld's  nurses,  and  it  was  natural 
that  themedical  profession  should  be  one  of  the  first, 
attempted.  In  1835  Harriot  K.  Hunt  began  the 
practice  of  medicine  in  Boston.  But  so  hostile  was  the 
profession  to  this  innovation  that  when  she  applied 
for  admission  to  lectures  in  Harvard  Medical  School, 
twelve  years  later,  she  was  refused,  and  it  was  not  till 
1853  that  she  received  the  degree  of  M.  D.  from  the 
then  newly  established  Woman's  Medical  College  of 
Pennsylvania.  As  early  as  1838  women  were  giving 
lectures  on  "  anatomy,"  often  in  the  interest  of  the  tem- 
perance movement.  In  1848,  the  principle  was  estab- 
lished of  women's  right  to  the  M.  D.  (if  they  could  get 
it!)  with  the  graduation  of  Elizabeth  Blackwell  from 
the  College  of  Medicine  in  Geneva,  N.  Y. 

As  was  to  be  expected,  the  law  and  the  ministry^  pmz. 
fesslQns_gQi[£rned_cliiefly  by  tradition,  and  the  furthest 
j^nKjYfd  frnmj:h£_^cientific  spirit  which  was  beginning 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  165 1 

to  penetrate  thought,  were  those  most  difficult  for 
wonien  to  enter.  As  late  as  1869  the  State  of  Illi- 
nois^enied_the_rigkL -to-practice  law  to  Myra  Rrar^well, 

who    was    editing    the    nffin'al    la^    jr^ilfn-^l    r>f    fl^P    cjti^fp 

bar^  on  the  ground  that  she  waajiat^pnlv  a  woman,  but 
a  married  woman !  The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  confirmed  the  decision.  But  in  1871  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  the  District  of  Columbia  unwillingly 
admitted  Belva  Lockvvood  to  practice  before  it,  and  in 
1879  she  was  admitted  to  practice  before  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court. 

In  the  ministry,  women  won  recognition  earlier,  the 
freedom  of  the  Friends  preparing  the  way.  Several 
denominations  licensed  or  ordained  women  to  preach, 
but  it  was  bitterly  opposed  by  the  clergy,  and,  with  a 
few  exceptions,  their  entrance  to  the  theological  schools 
was  not  accomplished  till  the  70's. 

The  struggle  for  equal  n'p-hts  before  the  law  begau  _ 
with  Hip  demarfd  that  married-wnmpn  should  be  al- 


'  lowed  to  control  their  own  property.  The  first  petition 
,  was  sent  to  the  New  York  legislature  by  Ernestine 
Rose,  a  brilliant  Polish  exile  who  played  a  conspicu- 
ous part  in  the  early  equal  rights  movement.  This 
petition  numbered  five  names  which  were  secured  with 
great  difficulty,  so  fearful  were  women  of  incurring 
notoriety.  In  1836  the  first  married  women's  prop- 
erty bill  was  introduced  into  the  New  York  legislature, 
where  it  was  finally  passed  twelve  years  later  in  the 
famous  year  of  the  first  woman's  rights  convention 
5 


1652  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

in  Seneca  Falls.  Maine,  however,  had  beaten  New 
York  by  four  years  in  passing  a  similar  bill.  Bety^een 
1848  and_j86ojhe,JievLyQrk_lggislature,  under  con^;^ 
tinual  pressure  from  the  women,  secured  to  married 
women  the  right  to  their  earnings_a.nd^-guaTdiaiighTg~~ 

of  their  children TliiiS-ihejeriod  preceding  the  Civil 

"Warj;ecognized  tli£_principle  of   iustire  in  the  legal 
.status_of  marrie-d-j^omen. 

Important  and  sweeping  as  were  the  changes  out- 
lined in  the  preceding  pages,  it  was  out  of  two  move- 
ments next  to  be  considered  that  the  agitation  for  politi- 
cal rights  for  women  directly  arose.  These  were  the 
Tpmpprgnrp  anri  Anti-Sla^•ery  Hiovements. 

Every  social  revolution  has  its  forerunner,  and  never 
was  there  a  bolder  herald  than  the  women's  political 
movernent  had  in  Franr^g  AA/'rig-lif^  who  carne  tO  this 
rnuntry  from  ^T"^hT)-1  in  lli°  '"^'^';  and  joinecl  forces 
with  Robert  Dale  Owen  in  his  socialistic  colony  in 
Indiana.  She  was  young,  handsome,  ardent,  wealthy, 
was  the  first  woman  to  mount  the  public  platform  in 
America,  and  her  demand  wasfor^fiomplete^economic, 


legal,  and  political  equality  between  the  sexes.  She 
wasgreeted  with  a  storm  of  abuse  wherever  she  ap- 
peared^_a^.^arti£iilar_uprDan-a£ising  among  the  clergy, 
who  seem  to  have  regarded  her  as  directly  inspire4 

by  the  deyiL The  word  "infidel"  saw  its  first  hard 

wear  in  this  country  during  the  years  when  Frances 
Wright  was  lecturing.  A  w'~'m^^  nn  the.. public  plat- 
form was  regatded  ns  next  thing  to  Antichrist 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1653 

It  was  when  Frances  Wright  was  in  the  public  eye 

that  the  temperance  movement  began, The  curse  of 

alcoholism,  with  the  poverty  and  wretchedness  attend-_ 
ant  upon  it,  were  the  plagues  of  the  jirst  half  of  the_ 
19th  century.  Wives  who  worked  to  support  the  family 
saw  their  meager 'earnings  legally  claimed  by  drunken 
husbands,  who  at  the  same  time  hound  their  children 
out  to  work  and  collected  their  wages.  The_v^Qm.en's 
hatred  of  the  liquor  traffic  had  a  twofold  origin :  moral 


and  economic.  As  woman  was  the  great  sufferer,  a 
concession  was  made  by  the  men  who  led  the  move- 
ment, and  she  w^as  allowed  to  tell  her  wrongs  on  the 
platform  in  order  to  awaken  popular  indignation. 
Women  formed,  temperance_societies  of  their,  awn,  _ 
\vhich  contributed  the  linn's  share  in  enthusiasm  and 
money  to  the  cause.  But  although  allowed  by  courtesy 
to  speak_at  meetings^  -wdmen  were,exclude,d-with  vio-- 
lejTjLjiistuiiance-4\4iea-they  apph€4-^r--seats--attd-"v^tes 

incoaY£iitions, 

In  1852  Susan  B.  Anthony  was  refused  permission 
to  speatTat  a  state  temperance  convention  at  Albany  on 
the  grniind  that  women  were  invited  to  listen,  not  to 
take  part,  and  in  1853,— at  the  World's  Temperance 
Convention  in  New  York,  when  her  name  was  pro-    ^ly 

— posed  tor  a  committee,  amid  a  «;rpnp  nt  His.crraFefnl  fnr-     v^ 
htilenoe  the  women_delegates  were  ejected  from  the 

convention,  a  number  of  men  sympathizers  going  ITut 

with   them.      After  the  withdrawal  one  minister  re- 
marked, "He  was  glad  the  women  were  gone;   they 


e 


1654  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

were  now  rid  of  the  scum  of  the  convention."  Later 
in  the  same  year,  when  Antoinette  Brown,  ordained 
minister  and  regular  delegate,  attempted  to  speak  in 
another  World's  Convention  in  New  York,  such  an 
uproar  resulted  that  a  stranger  in  the  gallery  asked 
his  neighbor,  "Are  those  men  drunk?"  Horace  Gree- 
ley reported  this  meeting  in  the  New  York  Tribune 
thus:  "This  convention  has  completed  three  of  its 
four  sessions  and  the  results  may  be  summed  up  as 
follows; — First  day,  crowding  a  woman  off  the  plat- 
form;—  Second  day,  gagging  her;  —  Third  day,  vot- 
ing that  she  shall  stay  gagged.  Having  thus  disposed 
of  the  main  question,  we  presume  that  the  incidentals 
will  be  finished  this  morning."  This  same  convention 
refused  the  credentials  of  a  delegate  who  was  a  grad- 
uate of  Edinburgh  University  because  he  was  colored. 
T]Tk__hlJt1g''  ^^'^  ^"^  thf  dirprt  rause  of  the  woman 
sufifjnc^  mnv'^m';^nt,  vi4ti4i  wn*^  t^""^  -i^nticlaA-pi-y  11^n,^'(-- 

ment.  Obi prHnn  tn  slavery  wn^  ns  nid  PS  t^i^  natinn 
Benjamin  Franklin  was  president  of  the  first  anti- 
slavery  society  in  America.  In  1828  two  young  South 
Carolina  women,  the  Grimke  sisters,  emancipated  their 
slaves  and  came  north  to  lecture  and  write  against 
slavery.  In  1833  the  Antislavery  and  Female  Anti- 
slavery  Societies  were  formed,  and  in  1839  when  tliey 
combined,  the  menu's  society  split  on  the  question  of 
admitting  the  women,  and  formed  a  new  men's  society. 
The  altercation  came  to  a  head  at  the  World's  Anti- 
slavgry   Convention,   which   was  called   in   T^nndnn   in 


>k 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1655 

1840.  To  this  meeting  delegates  went  from  both 
American  societies,  among  them  being  Lucretia  Mott, 
William  Lloyd  Garrison,  and  W^endell  Phillips.  ]^\'hen 
I  hey  presented  their  credentials,  after  heated  debate 
OTul   aiiiid    intense   excitement,   the   American   women 


~seats  in  the  convention,  to  at- 
tend which  they  had  come  thousands  of  miles^  ,  Garri- 
son staid  out  of  the  convention  with  them.  It  was  on 
this  dramatic  occasion  that  Elizabeth  Cadv  Stantoiv 
then  in  England  on  her  wedding  journey,  met  Lucretia 
MqU  and  became  a  convert  to  the  women's  cause. 
Walking  down  the  Strand  one  afternoon,  arm  in  arm, 
the  two  women  came  to  the  conclusion  in  AnVi^r  ni  thf.. 
rejection  of_thej\merican  delegates,  that  before  w^omen 
ronid  work-  pfFectively  for  Others  they  must  get  recog- 
nition for  themselves,  pnd  fbey  pledged  theniselYfLSjTt 
call  a  \y Oman's  Rights  Convention  as  soon  as_tli£3L 
sli^niilH  get  bark  to  America. 

It  was  not  till  J848;  that  the  plan  of  Airs.  Mott  and 
Mrs.  Stanton  materialized.  In  that  historic  year  of 
many  revolutions,  in  Seneca  Falls,  a  sleepy  country 
town  of  \\'estern  New  York,  where  Mrs.  Stanton  at 
that  time  resided,  the  two  women  above  mentioned, 
with  Martha  Wright  and  Mary  McLintock,  called  the 
first  Woman't;  RiVhts  rnnvention  in  the  w-orld  to  meet 
Tulv  TQth  and  20th.  It  convened  in  the  Weslevan 
church,  and  men  presided  because  the  women  felt  their 
ignorance  of  parliamentarv  procedure.  A  famous ~ 
Declaration  of   Sentiments  was  written,  modelled  on 


c 


M^'Z^ 


r^.^r 


^^^ 


i6k(^  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 


the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  spirited  resolu- 
tions were  passed  declaring  the  intention  of_women  to 
^  win  all  rights  accorded  to  men.J^Snsan  B.  Anthony, 
who  was  teaching  in  Canajoharie,  N.  Y.,  read  with 
amusement  the  account  of  the  doings  at  Seneca  Falls. 
Three  years  later  she  met  Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton,  and 
the  two  entered  upon  the  friendship  which  played  a 
leading  part  in  the  suffrage  movement  of  the  following 
■    half  century. 

The  complementary  characters  of  these  two  women 
made  them  a  rare  combination  for  leadership.     ]\lrS:_ 

Stanton    wag    a    wnman    nf    hrillianf    mjpd    and    radical 

tempgj: ^Gen,  fearless,  with  wide  knowledge  of  men 

and  trenchant  gifts  as  a  writer,  unimpeachable  ^^  wife  ^ 
and__mother    of   many    children,    she    was    admirably 
fitj;gd  to  assume  the  rhief  position  in  a  movement  which 
needed   n   goi>P4:^aJ-Qi-fighting  blond   who  could  at  the 
sam€— time-rqjcl  -the-  change  of  having  repudiat£d_th£. 
noHttaj-resptmsibilities  of  womanhood.    He]:  gnirk-  wit  ., 
and  stiDngLjyitality  made_Jier  impatient  of  more  cau- 
tious and  less  dynamic  natur^s^    Su3an_R_Antlio»y^was — 
^     legsIE5IEan.tarLd-^mar-a -patient  than  her  friend.     She— 
V      was  less  a  commander  and  more  a  leader.     She  was 
a  born  teacher,  aiming  to  convince  opinion,  never  to 
force   it.      There   was   an   Old  lestarpen^    pipmpntaj' 
.      'genial  humanity  in  Miss  Anthony,  an  epic  imperson- 
ality, a  large  simnlicity  which  are  generally  character- 
istic  of  great  leaders^^^In  her  own  estimate  she  stood 


MRS.   LUCRETIA   MOTT 

One   of   the   organizers   of   the   first   Woman's    Rights   Convention    held 
at   Seneca  Falls.    N.   Y..  July  19-20.   1848 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1659 

ninternrpted  nnderst^inding  of  the  two  enhanreH  their 
power. To  their  friendship  as  much  as  to  their_indi2. 


suffrage  movement  is  due. 

But  Mrs.  Stanton  and  Miss  Anthony  did  not  at  once 
take  the  leadership.  There  were  maturer  spirits  before 
tTiem.  DeaUi  by  shipwreck  took  Margaret  Fuller  from 
the  commanding  position  to  which  her  genius,  lofty 
idealism,  and  wide  humanity  had  raised  her,  but  her 
book,  "  The  Great  Lawsuit,"  was  an  arsenal  of  argu- 
ment. Ernestine  Rose,  impassioned  orator  and  legis- 
lative worker;  Lucretia  Mott,  clear,  serene,  fearless; 
Frances  D.  Gage,  self-educated,  consecrated  to  every 
moral  reform;  Paulina  Wright  Davis,  an  able  writer 
and  executive,  editor  of  the  first  woman  suffrage  paper 
in  the  world,  "The  Una,"  established  1853;  Angelina 
Grimke  and  Abby  Kelley  Foster,  pleaders  for  the  slave ; 
these  were  chief  figures  in  the  suffrage  movement  be- 
fore the  war.     It  wasa  synthetic  group,  seeing  the 

connection   betWf^'^r'    ^H    prngrp^givr'   mnvpmnnl-r     nrnri- 

mg[  for  all,  offering  their  platform  to  all  who  had  a 
wrong  to  be  redressed  or  a  grievance  to  proclaim.  This, 
catholic  spirit  was  by  no_means  characteristic  of  the 
q^ponenls^—  The  abuse  and  violence  with  which  t 
were  assailed  is  illustrated  by  the  behavior  of  the. 


Nevin  of  Cleveland,  who  went  up  to  William  LI 
Garrisoru-After  hearing  the  latter    make    a    suffra 
gppprVij  pnd  ciPiVing  him  by  the  nose,  shook  him  vio- 
lently !     When  he  was  through.  Garrison  asked  him, 


i66o  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

"Do  you  feel  any  better,  my  friend?     Do  you  hope 
thus  to  break  the  force  of  my  arguments?" 

This  impregnable  digrpgarH  r»f  pi^blir  r^ijinion  made 
them  exceptionally  hated,  and  the  Inst  straw  wps  laid 
on  the  patience  of  the  multitude  wheaJn  i8so  Eliza- 
beth Smith  Miller  of  Geneva.  N.  Y..  daughter  of  Gerj- 
rit  Smith,  the  Abolitionist,  invented  the  bloomer  cos- 
tume, so-called  after  the  lady  who  popularized  it.  For 
some  years  after  this  the  platform  of  the  women's 
rights  conventions  presented  a  picturesque  diversity  of 
costume,  ranging  from  Lucy  Stone's  black  silk  and 
velvet  bloomer  outfit  to  Lucretia  Mott's  Quaker  garb. 
The  last  survival  of  this  rebellion  in  dress  is  to  be  seen 
to-day  in  the  quaint,  aged  figure  of  Dr.  Mary  Walker, 
who  obtained  from  the  federal  government  permission 
to  wear  men's  attire  when  she  was  an  army  surgeon. 
After  some  years,  the  women  gave  up  trying  to  reform 


drpss  Mrs  Stnntnn  said  that  bloomers  were  adapted 
only  to  forms  of  classic  perfection.  Miss  Anthony 
confessed  that  wearing  it  had  been  a  physical  comfort 
but  a  mental  crucifixion.  W'hen  Gerrit  Smith  saw 
them  go  back  into  traditional  garments,  he  said  he 
"almost  despaired  of  the  suffrage  movement." 
j  This  p-iviny  up  r^f  rlrpss  rpfnrrp  iHustratcs  the  con- 
vi<;tion  which  was  taking  shape  in  the  minds  of  the 

a^ers  that  they  could  not  hope  to  make  the  world 
in    onp    o-eneration,    and    that   they   must   restrict 

g-ir  efForfs  to  a  definite  program.      Up  to  thisjtime 
they  hadJlTTownJJiemgelves  witlv-passieaat€- 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1661 

the   struggle    for  property  and   family  righfg^   Pf]iirn- 

jj^nal  R'-"^  prnfe«^qinnp1  V?;h\^,  pi-r.1iil-.i'ti'r>n  of  the  HqUOr 

tiaffic,  aboHtion  of  slavery.     They  had  carriec 

propaganda  throup-hnnt  the  nnrtli  anri  -inrpgt,  pnti'finninpr 
legislative  bodies,  lertnriiify  anH  orgamVing^gorjetips 
to  sciLk  cvLiy-formjofJustice  to  man  and  woman.  As" 
their  activity  recedes  into  the  past,  it  loses  its  crude 
details  and  rises  to  the  altitude  of  grandeur,  while  it 
takes  on  a  splendor  of  energy,  courage,  and  prophetic 
vision  which  challenges  the  women  of  today. 

The  Reconstruction  Period 

When  the  southern  cannon  opened  on  Fort  Sumter, 
Aprili2,  1861,  the  women  of  the  North  ceased  agitat- 
ing  for  their  own  cause,  and  turnejdjto  the  support  of 
me  government.  They  went  to  the  front  as  nurse?; 
many  in  disguise  fought  in  the  ranks;  Anna  Ella  Car- 
rol planned  the  campaign  of  the  Tennessee  River  which 
cut  the  Confederacy  in  two  in  1862  and  which  was  the 
most  brilliant  strategic  move  of  the  war;  Elizabeth 
Blackwell  initiated  the  Sanitary  Commission;  Clara 
Barton  directed  the  Red  Cross  work  on  the  battlefield; 
Dorothea  Dix  acted  as  head  of  the  women  nurses  in 
the  hospitals.  North  and  south,  women  rendered  heroic 
service  to  both  armies,  collecting  food,  medicines,  hos- 
pital supplies,  clothing,  and  in  addition  taking  the  places 
at  home  of  men  who  had  gone  by  hundreds  of  thous- 
ands to  the  front.  Farms  were  tilled,  shops  run,  busi- 
ness taken  over  bv  women,  and  in  that  hour  of  ex- 


^mSl  ,  ji"^^    WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

.     tremity   none   realized   that   the   revolution    that   was 
checked  by  the  carnage  of  a  hundred  battlefields  was 
inconsequential  to  the  revolution  which  had  taken  place~~ 
mnoticed,  no£th  and  south,  behind  the-lines^ 

The  Federal  Government  early  in  the  war  admitted 
[o  clerkships  widows  and  dependent  relatives  ofsol- 
diers  who  had  been  killed.  When  the  flotsani  and 
jetsoni  of  the  struggle  in  the  shape  of  old  and  worn-out 
slaves  began  to  drift  into  Washington  it  was  Josephine 
Griffing  who  came  to  their  rescue,  begging  appropria- 
tions, and  when  these  ceased,  collecting  funds  privately, 
until  out  of  her  efforts  developed  the  Freedmen's  Bu- 
reau. In  the  second  year  of  the  war,  a  girl  who  had 
been  employed  in  the  Mint  was  turned  out  of  her  posi- 
tion because  she  criticised  Gen.  McClellan  in  the  con- 
duct of  his  campaign.  This  episode  gave  to  the  public 
one  of  the  most  extraordinary  w^omen  of  her  time, 
Anna  Dickinson,  a  girl  then  in  her  teens.  Miss  Dick- 
inson was  at  once  engaged  by  the  Republican  party  as  a 
campaign  speaker,  and  for  years  was  the  glory  of  the 
organization  which  had  the  sense  to  avail  itself  of  her 
senricei--  The  Civil  War  seemed  to  the  women  of  that 


dav^the  grim  portal  through  which  thev  were  to  pass 
to  citizenship  with  the  black  man  thev  had  championed. 
THey  regarded  the  party  of  Lincoln  and  Anna  Dick- 
insorras  the_powerwhich  should  accomplish  the  free- 
dom of  slaveand  woman.     It  never  occurred  to  them 


that  they  had  given  husband  and  son  in  order  to  es- 
tablish the  citizenship  of  the  black  man, —  for  that  is 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1663 

what  the  war  meant  to  most  northern  women, —  only 
to  see  the  door  shut  in  their  own  faces  by  statesmen 
and  by  the  party  which  they  had  helped  to  create. 

The  war  ended;  the  president  was  shot;  the  grand 
review  at  Washington  disbanded  the  huge  armament; 
the  XIII  Amendment  was  adopted,  and  the  sordid  story 
of  reconstruction  began. 

Susan  B.  Anthony  had  gone  to  Kansas,  when  one 
morning  late  in  1865  she  read  in  a  newspaper  the  state- 
ment that  the  word  "  male^was  to  be  inserted  into  the 
proposed  XIV  Amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United '  States.  Up^to^  thir time,  that  word  had  not 
appeared  in  the  constitution.  In  a  A^sh  Miss  Anthony 
saw  the  full  extent  of  the  tragedy  to  the  woman's 

^nnsf  if  t^^  ^^^^  Ampnrlmpnt  chniild  enfranchise  the 
bln^ll-l"^^^  ^"^"^  pvpliVi'tly  di'^fjianchise  all  women,  black 
and  white—.  She  took  the  first  train  east,  called  uporT 
all  the  suffrage  leaders  in  New  England,  and  with  Mrs. 
St^tnn  in  New  Jersey  I^H  ^1lt  t1->p-^.nmpnirrn  nrr.ninnt 
this  politicaLmOY^  ^^  ^^^  PppnbHmn  pnrty.  As  a  test 
case  to  prove  women's  eligibility  to  offices  for  which 
they  could  not  vote,  Mrs.  Stanton  announced  herself 
a  candidate  for  Congress  in  1866,  receiving  24  votes. 
In  the  same  year  the  American  Equal  Rights  Associa- 
tion was   torme'd  to  resume  work   for  the  rights  of 

i~  '  '    '  ■■■-■■■'  ■  *''  '       ■  '^ 

women  and  the  black  race^.^  Almost  immediately  a 
division  in  the  ranks  developed  over  the  question  of  this 
word  male  in  the  constitution.  Sumner,  Garrison, 
Phillips,    Gerrit  Smith,   Tilton,    Horace  Greeley,   and 


i664  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

other  Abolition  leaders  tried  to  silence  the  protests  of 
the  women  with  the  statement,  "  This  is  the  negro's 
hour.  The  women  will  come  next."  Lucy  Stone,  Julia 
Ward  Howe,  and  many  other  women  who  had  worked 
against  slavery  were  willing  to  stand  aside,  but  not 
Airs.  Stanton  or  Miss  Anthony.  The  only  man  of 
power  and  influence  who  stood  with  them  was  Henry 
Ward  Beecher.  They  petitioned  Congress,  collecting 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  signatures  protesting  against 
the  word  male  in  the  XIV  Amendment.  In  the  midst 
of  the  agitation,  the  Kansas  campaign  of  1867  came 
on.  Two  constitutional  amendm.ents  were  submitted, 
one  proposing  to  enfranchise  the  negro,  the  other  to 
enfranchise  women.  Both  were  critical  questions,  for 
they  tested  public  sentiment  and  would  indicate  what 
was  to  be  hoped  from  state  action.  The  result  was  dis- 
couraging. Both  amendments  lost,  but  negro  suffrage 
polled  10,000  votes ,  while  the  women  secured  but 
9,000.  Trom  that  moment,  the  XIV  and  XV  Aniend- 
ments  became  inevitable.  Feeling  it  imperative  to  haxg, 
a  mouthpiece  for  expressing  their  views  on  the  political 
crisTs,  l\lrs.  Stanton  and  Miss  Anthony  arreptpd  finan-^ 
trial  backing  from  tw'o  Democrats  and  in  1868  founded 


the  " Rrooliition,"  a  paper  which  continued  for  two 
years.  At  the  "end  of  that  time  it  w^as  discontinued, 
leaving  Miss  Anthony  burdened  with  a  debt  of  $10,000 
which  it  took  years  of  lecturing  to  wnpe  out.  Tn  tSto. 
chiefly  through  the  instrnmentab'ty  of  T  ,nry  Stnnp, 
"flic  Woman's  Journal"  was  founded.     It  has  been 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1665 

j)iiblished  in  Boston  unintermptedly  since  that  time  with 
uniform  brilliance  and  editorial  dignity.  Under  the 
able  management  of  Alice  Stone  Blackwell,  Lucy 
Stone's  daughter,  it  is  at  present  a  leading  power  in 
the  American  suffrage  movement. 
/  In  1868  the  custom  began  of  sending  women  repre- 
sentatives  to  national  and  state  party  conventions  to  ^et 
a  suffrage  plank  in  the  platfom] — 1«  this  year,  after 
fierce  opposition  in  which  the  Democrats  charged  the 
Republicans  with  betraying  the  women  who  had  helped 
them  to  their  determination  of  building  up  a  negro  con- 
stituency in  the  South,  the  XIV  Amendment  passed. 
The  Amendment  read,  "All  personslDorn  or  naturalizecl 
in  the  United  States  and  subject  to  the  jurisdiction 
thereof,  ...  are  citizens  of  the  United  States  and  of 
the  state  wherein  they  reside.  ...  No  state  shall  .  .  . 
abridge  the  privileges  ...  of  citizens  of  the  United 
States.  When  the  right  to  vote  is  denied  to  any  of  the 
male  inhabitants  of_such  state  ,   thp  basi^  ni  re^- 

rr;pitntinn  thrrrin  nhnll  bp  reduced  in  the  proportion 
^xrh•^rh  tliP  n^^Tr|bfr  nf  <;nrh  tiinlt^  citizens  shall  bear  to  the 
whole  number  of  male  citizens  twenty-one  years  of_a££. 

Defeated  on  the  XIV  Amendment,  the  suffragists 

who  'ToTpiTvfd  thr  lend  nf  1\Tr^  Stnnt^n  n"d  ^^'^^ 
Aatbonv  tivrned  to  the  impending  XV.  As  proposed, 
this  read,  ''The  rjght_of  citizens  of  the  United  Stages 
to  vote  shall  not  be  denied  or  abridged  by  the  United 
StatesjK-by-any  state  on  account  of  race,  cole 


/I 


i666  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

^  ^vious  condition_of  <;prvihirlp  "  The  women  demanded 
-^1^  that  the  word  sex  "  be  inserted  immediately  after  the 
word  "  color."  The  division  ot  opinion  among  suffrage 
leaders  grew  so  pronounced  as  to  the  advisability  of 
pressing  this  change  that  in  i86^during  the  height  of 
the  constitutional  agitation,  one  wing  of  the  American 
Equal  Rights  Association,  immediately  after  the  na- 


I       tlonal  convention  in  May,  met  in  iNew  York  and  formed" 
5w^^a  new  society  under  the  name  of  the  National  Woman 
Suffrage   Association^    with    Elizabeth    Cady    Stanton**N 
president,    and    Susan  B.   Anthony,    Ernestine    Rose,    I 
Paulina   Davis,   Josephine   Griffing,    Elizabeth   Milleiv/ 
and  others  among  the  officersr"/The  remaining  wing 
of  the  old  association  met  the  following  autumn  and 
resolved  itself  into  the  American  Woman  Suffrage  As- 
sociation with  Henry  W^ard  Beecher  president,  and  Lucy 
Stone,  Henry  Blackwell,  Julia  Ward  Howe,  Mary  A. 
Livermore,  T..W.  Higginson,  Antoinette  Brown  Black-     . 
well  as  officers;  The  latter  society,  while  petitioning  Con- 


gr^ss  for  a  XVI  Amendment  to  deal  exclusively  with_ 
enfranchising  the  women,  turned  its  chief  attention  to 
ing   state   action.  -Time   has   demonstrated   this 


oHcy  as  the  one  to  bring  first  results.  The  National 
society  held  its  conventions  at  the  national  capital; 
the  American,  in  leading  cities  throughout  the  coun- 
try. The  two  SDcieties  remained  separate_down_Jo_th£ 
year  i8qo,  when  they  reunited  under  the  present  name, 
National  American  \\"oman  Suffrage  Association. 
Iru^70  the  XV  Amendment  was  adopted  without 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1667 

the  word  sex,   and  both  suffrage  societies  demanded 
theiSibmission  ot  a  XVI  Amendment,  as-the-next  step  vL^ 

toward  a  complpte  democrac}^ But  meantime,  at  a 

state  suffrage  convention  in  St.  Louis,  Francis  Minor, 
a  lawyer,  presented  resolutions  declaring"  that  wnmpn 
were  entitled  to  vote  under  the  wording  of  the  XIV 
ATTTCndment;  that  women  were  included  under  "All  ' 
persons  born  or  naturalized  in  the  United  States  and 
subject  to  the  jurisdiction  thereof  are  citizens  of  the 
United  States.  N'o  state  shall  abridge  the  privileges 
of  citizens  of  the  United  States."  This  position  was 
enthusiastically  endorsed  by  the  convention.  The  fol- 
lowing March,  1870.  Marilla  Ricker  of  New  Hamp- 
shire applied  for  registry  and  was  accepted,  but  did 
not  vote  until  1871.  To  her  belongs  the  distinction  of 
being  the  first  woman  to  vote  under  the  XIV  Amend- 
ment. In  April  of  the  same  year,  Nannette  Gardner 
voted  in  Detroit,  and  70  women  attempted  to  vote  in 
the  District  of  Columbia.  Refused  registry  in  the 
District,  the  women  took  their  case  into  court,  carrying 
it  up  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  U.  S.,  where  the 
verdict  was  adverse.  This  began  the  remarkable  series 
of  trials  in  the  courts,  by  means  of  which  women  in 
Calitornia.  lUinOis.  Miij^oun.  Connecticut.  New  York. 


and "  Pennsylvania  attempted  to  establish  their  right 
under  the  constitution  to  all  the  privileges  of  citizens. 
The  constitutional  struggle  lasted  for  five  years  until 

th^^^H^^^igl^^^rn'^r    H'T*^  J^^'^^i'-ft    "Wnitp    r.f    fjif    TTnited 

mpreme  Court  in  the  Minof-Happefsett  case, 


i668  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

in  1875,  P^^t  an  end  to  the  possibility  of  women  vot- 
ing under  the  constitution  as  it  stands.  The  contra- 
dictions in  the  arguments  of  learned  judges  when  they 
were  forced  to  declare  that  words  which  meant  one 
thing  in  the  case  of  the  negro  meant  something  differ- 
ent in  the  case  of  women,  roused  the  deepest  resentment 
in  the  breasts  of  the  latter.  Next  in  importance  to  the 
Minor  case  was  that  of  Susan  B.  Anthony,  who  at- 
tempted to  vote  in  the  presidential  election  of  1872. 

These  years  were  the  dark  ages  of  the  suffrage  cause 
in  this  country.  Repudiated  by  the  Republican  party, 
denied  rights  in  the  federal  courts  on  the  ground  that 
state  rights  were  paramount,  in  face  of  the  fact  that 
the  ballot  had  been  given  to  the  negro  without  consult- 
ing the  states,  placed  secondary  to  the  negro  by  men 
they  had  reckoned  their  staunchest  supporters,  con- 
scious of  a  deadly  subsidence  in  popular  interest  which 
was  inevitable  when  the  case  was  decided  against  them, 
all  felt  discouragement  except  the  dauntless  few  who 
in  every  great  cause  stand  in  the  gap  between  the  first 
and  the  last  enthusiasm.  But  vast  social  and  economic 
forces  began  to  move  obscurely  in  the  darkness  of  those 
discouraged  years.  Full  and  still,  almost  unmarked, 
the  tide  of  w- Oman's  energy  rose,  flowed  into  the  in- 
dustrial reservoirs  of  the  nation,  crept  up  the  highest 
dykes  raised  by  the  professions  and  the  schools,  and 
hung  poised  and  resistless  for  the  hour  when  the  col- 
lapse of  immemorial  barriers  would  let  loose  the  deluge 
of  a  new  age  upon  the  w^orld.     It  came  in  the  middle 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1669 

eighties.     Courts  and  legislatures  took  to  the  one  ark 
'which  was  left  to  them,  and  in   1887  Congress  sent 
out  the  raven  of  the  Edmunds-Tucker  Act,  disenfran- 
chising the  women  of  Utah. 

The  story  of  the  70's  is  briefly  told.  Virginia  was 
the  first  southern  state  to  form  a  suffrage  society,  which 
happened  in  1870.  The  Northwestern  and  Pacific 
Slope  Associations  were  formed  the  same  year,  that 
.  veteran  figure,  Abigail  Scott  Duniway,  taking  leading 
part.  In  1871  Victoria  WoodhuU  shot  like  a  meteor 
.  into  the  suffrage  movement  and  raised  a  commotion 
that  took  years  to  subside.  Young,  beautiful,  gifted 
with  genius  but  denied  patience,  she  foresaw  the  course 
•  the  cause  must  take  and  wrecked  herself  in  premature 
effort  to  travel  it.  With  her  sister,  Tennie  C.  Claflin. 
she  opened  a  broker's  office  on  Wall  Street  in  1870, 
and  shortly  afterward  began  the  publication  of  '"  Wood- 
hull  and  Claflin's  Weekly,"  a  journal  which  soon  be- 
came notorious  because  it  attacked  prostitution  and  the 
social  system  which  produces  it.  The  cry  of  "  Free 
love"  was  raised  by  press  and  public,  and  when  Mrs. 
Woodhull  appeared  on  the  suffrage  platform,  slanders 
attaching  to  her  were  transferred  to  all  who  associated 
with  her.  It  seems  humorous,  today,  to  read  that  a 
resolution  was  offered  in  one  of  the  suffrage  conven- 
tions disavowing  free  love!  It  was  tabled,  but  it  is 
significant  that  some  women  were  so  tormented  by  the 
scurrilous  attacks  upon  them  that  they  sought  relief 
in  such  a  resolution.    Victoria  Woodhull  with  her  chil- 


1670  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

clren  was  hounded  out  of  the  country,  ruined  in  fortune 
and  broken  in  heart,  to  die  abroad.     It  was  a  strange  ^ 

^.-^        tnrn  nf  fnrtnnp  Miih\rh  mn^^   in   Tr|TT,  ,,  rrmvdPrl  nillljljj_ 

^^     .  tiiTguished  Chicago  sndipnrp  gatlipr^rl  in  the  Audito- 


^j  flum  toliear  Lady  Cook,  the  once  prosrribpH  Tenni 
^  Claflin.  say  without  rifTpngp  tlip  fhingc  fr^r  ^.rViiVV.  ^r; 

r*  tnria  W^ndhull  hnd  bfcn  rnicifirii 

,C^  The  Fourth  of  July  in  Centennial  year  was  the  occa- 

•     J^  sion  of  a  memorable  scene  in  Philadelphia  where  the 
.--^ Exposition  was  in  progress.     In  the  ceremonies  of  that 

day    Amgrican    WOniPti    Harl    |^ppn    rlpniprl    nfHrial    rppre- 


sentation  on  the  plat^^'^^'"!    ^'^    ]vr\f-pf^^^rUr^rf^    '^qnnr'^i  _ 
— -^IT    wKile  representatives  of  foreign  monarchies  from  Tur- 

'  key  to  Brazil  were  welcomed.     In_thg  midst  of  the  ex- 

(/        ercises^^jusan  B.  Anthony  made  lier  way  to  the  chair-      * 

^^        man  of  the  day,  and  in  full  view  ot  the  audience  pre"-  ^^x 

-      y 


y. 


sented  the  protest  of  the  women  of  the  nation  agamst" 
th[is_indignitv.  and  against  their  deprivation  of  citi- 
zenship. Mt  was  p-  solemn  indictment  which  the  time 
{  atiH^  plarP   rnnd^   ^""'^tonV.      Simultaneously   Ehzabetlf 

*^f/    Cady  Stanton  read  the  protest  with  the  accompanying 
^bill  of  rights  to  a  crowd  from  the  steps  of  Independence 
"^^Hall  and  was  cheerpr]  in  pvpry  rhu^.     The  events  of 


these  years  led  Mrs.  Stanton  to  write,  in  1877,  "Xhe_ 

Amprir;in  ppnpV  h^v^  nntgrnwn  thp  rnnstitution,  which      /. 
was  adaptpd  tn  thf;  inpn  nf  1776,     Jt  is  a  monarchical 
document  with  republican  ideas  engrafted  in  it,   full 
of  compromises  between  antagonistic  principles.     The 


rfl. 


\ 


> 


SUSAN  B.  ANTHONY 

To  whose  courage  and  zeal  the  cause  of  Woman  Suffrage  owes  much 

of  its  progress. 


•»•  c  •. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1673 

real  work  at  the  dawn  of  our  second  century  is  to  make 


a  new  one." 


The  early  leaders  were  beginning  to  pass  away,  the 
only  ray  ot  hope  which  thpy  HaH  gppn  hping"  the  enfran- 
clijsement  of  women  in  Wyoming  in  i86q.  In  1878 
Lucretia  Mott  passed  down  the  aisle  out  of  her  last 
conyention,  and  Frederick  Douglass,  knowing  that  they 
should  see  her  no  more,  called  after  her,  "  Good  bye, 
dear  Lucretia ! "  With  thf  withdrnwnl  ^f  thnt  b^nir- — .. 
nant  presence  the  era  of  the  Reconstruction  with  the 
constitutional  struggle  of  women  to  become  included  in 
ihe^  number  of  citizens  of  their  country,  came  to  a  close. 

The  Entrance  of  Woman  Suffrage  Into  National  Politics 
Tn  tXt^  with  the  jininTi^f  the  two  suffrage  associa- 
tions,  a  new  impulse  began  to  manifest  itself^ -It  ^^^a*^. 

t^ypgr  r>f  fhp   nrlmi'QQinn   r>f   \A/Y'^i"nitTfT   '^c   "J    gt-afp,    thp 

"l^^^^t^tatP  fn  OTVP  tlip  hallnt  to  its  women.  Young 
women  were  in  training  to  carry  the  work  over  into 
the  twentieth  century.  Notable  among  them  were  the 
two  who  have  held  the  presidency  of  the  national  so- 
ciety since  Snsnn  R.  Anthony  resigned  the  office.  These 
wPTP  Mrc;    Gnrrjp  riiapmnn  Tntf  at-|r1  Rpv.   Anna  How-   ^ 

ar^L-Shaiii— In  Mrs.  Catt,  the  suffrage  cause  secured         « 
n  ^pn^rnl;    in  "Mi^'^  ^^""iw    it  found  an  orator.^    The       S", 
former  made  her  first  appearance  on  the  speaking  pro- 
gram of  a  national  convention  in  1890,     During  the      ^ 
following  decade  she  formed  a  new  committee,  on  or- 
ganization, and  served  as  its  chairman.     During  the 


^ 


Q 


/ 


i674 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 


first  year  of  its  existence  she  had  brouglit  nearly  every 
state  and  territory  into  the  association.  Her  first  plea 
in  the  councils  of  the  society  was  for  system,  by  means 
of  which  growing  sentiment  might  be  focussed.  She 
inaugurated  a  movement  of  organic  correlation  of  state 
associations  which  proved  effective  for  twenty  years, 
and  when  the  suffrage  movement  was  on  the  eve  of 
entering  the  field  of  national  politics  she  organized  the 
Woman  Suffrage  Party  to  meet  new  needs.  Other 
suffrage  leaders  have  surpassed  Mrs.  Catt  in  particular 
qualttiesTl^utwhen  it_ccv!T|p'^  tn  thp  rernrd  of  permanent 
and  prophetic  achievement,  the  winning  and  clinch- 
ing  of  tangible  advantages,  those  qualities  which  we 
call  statesmanship,  on  thisjlane  she  stands  alone.  MSIone' 
of  the  prominent  figures  who  have  come  crowcfing  into 
the  arena  in  the  last  years  have  demonstrated  that 
power  to  conceive  a  great  plan  and  carry  it  to  a  great 


consinnmation,   which   she   has   repeatedly   put    forth. 

cietv^the  building  of  the  International  Suffrage  Alli- 
anre^^nndjj^p  formation  of  the  Woman  Suffrage  Party 
are  three  instances. 

In  T^IXj  ^'^  g^t-iVc  nf  fi]iffr^cTP  virtnripc;  beg^n.  fiilo- 
ra^do_enfranchi';fd  its  women  in-lhat-yeay. — ^^tS96 
Utah  and  Idaho  followed.    A  pause  of  i6  years-ensued.^ 


during  which  the  Spanish-American  War  was  f( 

or  unions,  the  Socialist 


the  struggle  ot  the 


begun,  while  the  rise  q 
/.        party,  the  Single  Tax_ 


-floelilni:;  of  pubUfe- 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1675 

ownership  of  natural  resources  and  pvhUq  nfiHtiV'^,  all 
showed  the  dawn  of  a  new  social  thoug-ht.  The  retire- 
ment of  Miss  Anthony  from  the  official  leadership  of 
the  suffrage  movement  in  ipoo  and  the  selection  nf 
Mrs.  Catt  as  her  successor,  emphasized  the  pa<;«;ing  gj^ 
the  old  order  and  tlie  rnming  nf  tln^  npw  ]\/Ti^gg  An- 
thony lived  to  see  herself  internationally  honored  as  the 
greatest  living  American  woman,  with  royal  honors 
shown  her  on  her  visits  abroad,  while  in  her  own  coun- 
try, her  last  years  were  filled  with  a  gratitude,  honor, 
and  affection  which  few  leaders  of  men  reap.  She  died 
in  1907.  one  month  after  attending  a  suffrage  con- 
vention in  Washington,  D.  C,  having  attained  tjie^age 

^^p  last  3^'"rirs  nf  th^  roth  rentng  saw  the  rise  of  * 

ever. more  impn^iing  nntional  and  internationaPbodies  ^ 
of_  women  standing  for  the  advancement  of  the  rigTits'^^ 
and  opportunities  of  women.  Among  the  most  impor-  "^^ 
tant  were  the  National  and  International  Councils  of  ^^ 
Women,  organized  in  this  country  in  1888.  Mrs.  Milli-  ^ 
cent  Fawcett.  of  England,  was  president  of  the  Inter- 
tional  Council,  Clara  Barton,  Vice-president.  Frances 
Willard  was  President  of  the  National  Council,  Susan 
B.  Anthony  was  Vice-president.  The  idea  of  an  in- 
ternational  organization  which  should  represent  the 
world-wide  needs  and  activities  of  women  originated 
with  Mrs.  Stanton.  A  woman's  rightii  cuiigress  had 
-  been  held  in  Paris  in  1878,  with  delegates  from  six 
countries,  but  no  permanent  association  resulted.     Mrs. 


Si 


1676  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

Stanton  anu  Miss  Anthony  planned  to  celebrate  the  40th 
anniversary  of  the  Seneca  Falls  convention  by  form- 
ing a  permanent  International  Council  of  Women,  and 
holding  its  first  convention  at  the  national  capital.  Dele- 
gates were  present  from  nine  countries,  representing 
53  national  organizations  of  women,  the  sessions  lasted 
eight  days,  during  which  80  speakers  addressed  53 
meetings.  Rachel  Foster  (Avery)  as  Corresponding 
Secretary  supervised  arrangements,  spending  the  then 
unprecedented  sum  of  $12,000.  At  the  close  of  the 
meetings,  the  Council  endorsed  Mrs,  Stanton's  resolu- 
tion declaring  for  equal  educational  and  professional 
opportunities,  industrial  training  for  women,  equal 
wages  for  equal  work  and  a  single  standard  of  morality. 
National  councils  were  subsequently  formed  in  most 
European  countries,  which  are  active  today. 

In  1902,  Mrs.  Carrie  Chapman  Catt,  President  of  the 
National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Association,  real- 
ized a  dream  of  many  years  by  calling  a  meeting 'in 
W'ashington  to  take  steps  toward  organizing  the  world 
for  suffrage.     (See  article  by  Mrs.  Catt,  page  1587.) 

Imposing  as  is  the  International  Woman  Suffrage 
Alliance  as  the  climactic  result  of  two  generations  of 
pressure  for  the  political  recognition  of  women,  it  is 
to  a  newer  organization  in  the  suffrage  arena  that  all 
eyes  are  turning  as  the  most  significant  factor  in  the 
political  struggle  of  women  for  the  ballot  in  the  next 
few  years  in  the  United  States.  This  organization  is 
the  Womfi"   g;iifFr^P  V^r±ii^  Tn  October.   ^';)r";},  ^^^ 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1677 

first  con\^ention,gfjjie-yV'oman  Suffrage  Party  of  New? 

*  YorJT'wanield  in  r^rn^g^'"  HnM,  vin'th  i^'^^-t~'-H^;jnt-^ 
attending,  the  platform,  boxes,  and  galleries  being  filled 
with  distinguished  and  interested  spectators.  The  party 
grew  out  of  the  union  of  suffrage  societies  in  Greater  New 
York,  known  as  the  Interurban  Suffrage  council,  and  its 
founder,  Carrie  Chapman  Catt,  was  the  first  chairman. 
fThe  party  plan  of  work  calls  for  a  Leader  in  each 
Assembly  District,  and  a  Captain  in  each  Election  Dis- 
trict. These  leaders  are  in  charge  of  the  work  of 
thoroughly  canvassing  their  respective  territories,  and 
seeing  that  strong  working  committees  are  elected  by 
the  enrolled  suffragists  discovered  by  the  canvass.  In 
Boston,  Philadelphia,  Pittsburg,  Baltimore,  Cleveland, 
and  Chicago,  the  organization  follows  ward  and  county 
lines  instead  of  assembly  district.  In  other  respects,  Jtli£_-— 
plan  of  the  parent  organization  is  closely  adhered  to.  ''T^ 
The  advantages  of  organizing  suffragists  by  political 
districts  instead  of  in  the  older  heterogeneous  clubs  is 
apparent  to  the  most  superficial  observer.  Women  are 
at  once  educated  to  speak  and  think  in  political  terms. 
Their  suffrage  activities  lead  at  once  to  practical  politics. 
They  become  formidable  elements  in  "  constituencies," 
for  thpy;  cjpjyp  npnn  \\]f  gnpgti'nnijT^;  pf  candidates,  pri- 
maries, elections,  campaign  and  all  kinds  of  political 
rneetings,  as  occasions  for  propaganda.  They  enter_  ^ 
local  and  state  politics  with  the  purpose  of  defeating  "7^ 
antjisuttrage  candidates.  On  the  other  hand,  their 
definite  plan  of  organization  ena^ETes  them  to  concen-'~~'  -A^ 


1678 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 


trate  their  forces  upon  any  ffiven  point  at  <;l^nrf  nnhre, 
to  take  a  hand  in  every  organjzerl  effort  fn  hettej  snrial 
conditions  hy  pnlitiral  artinti,  | 

[The  growth  of  the  party  plan  of  organization  has 
been  unprecedented.  It  has  been  adopted  with  uniform 
success  in  many  states,  being  specially  valuable  in  cam- 
paign territory.!  In  states  like  Massachusetts,  Pennsyl- 
vania, New  York,  and  Ohio,  where  there  are  many 
large  cities,  Tit  is  acknowledged  to  be  the  best  method 
^  U:>so^  far  devised  for  grouping  masses  of  population  and, 
■'^  getting  at  the  individual  voter.  It  offers  definite  work 
to  all  who 
burden  those 


y 


illing  t^  do  somethmg.  and  does  not 


-not-able  to  a&sun 

liTspite  of  many  rivals,  the  Woman  Suffrage  Party 
of  New  York  continues  to  be  the  most  important 
branch  of  the  new  organization.  During  its  first  year, 
it  enrolled  20,000  members,  collected  $6,000,  estab- 
lished a  monthly  magazine  "  The  Woman  Voter,"  and 
organized  Greater  New  York.  At  thejclose  of  1912^ 
nnm|^P]-P(^|  vn  r)fy|  ni^^'hrm  Ju  Nrw  York  City  alone. 
and  on  the  occasion  of  the  meeting  in  Carnegie  Hall 
to  welcome  home  its  founder  from  her  round  the  w^orld 
tour  for  suffrage,  November^  19.12,  some  $6,000  \iias__ 
raised  in  a  few  miniitgs,_a-suni  equal  to  the  year's  col- 
lection  m  igio. . 

Other  national  suffrage  organizations  are  the  Friends' 
Equal  Rights  Association;  The  College  Equal  Suffrage 
League,  founded  by  Maud  Wood  Park,  of  Boston,  in 
1902.  formed  into  a  national  organization  by  its  found- 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1679 

er  and  organizer  in  1908;  the  Equal  Franchise  Society, 
formed  in  New  York  City,  in  1909,  with  Mrs.  Clarence 
Mackay  as  first  president,  extending  into  other  states 
the  following"  year. 

Notable  local  suffrage  organizations  are  the  No 
Vote  No  Tax  League  ( 1910),  and  Suffrage  Federation 
of  Cook  County  ( 1912) ,  both  of  Chicago :  the  Women's 
Political  Union,  of  New  York,  headquarters  at  46  East 
29th  St.,  founder  and  president,  Harriet  Stanton 
Blatch,  collections  during  19 12,  $24,000,  membership 
fee,  25  cents,  publication  "The  Broadside"  when  the 
spirit  moves,  chief  object  to  influence  the  legislature, 
its  most  remarkable  recent  achievement  being  the  suf- 
frage parade  of  May,  19 12,  when  10,000  women  from 
all  suffrage  organizations  marched  up  Fifth  Avenue 
from  Washington  Square  to  Carnegie  Hall ;  the  Politi- 
cal Equality  Association,  founder  and  first  president, 
Mrs.  O.  H.  P.  Belmont,  with  12  associated  clubs,  hand- 
some headquarters  with  shop,  reading  room,  restaurant, 
and  assembly  room  located  in  the  property  purchased 
by  Mrs.  Belmont,  at  115  East  41st  Street,  membership 
3,000. 

Among  the  national  organizations  of  women  devoted 
to  objects  other  than  suffrage,  the  National  Women's 
Trade  Union  League  (1903),  and  The  American 
Woman's  Republic  place  woman  suffrage  among  the 
planks  in  their  platform;  the  Woman's  Christian  Tem- 
perance Union  (1874)  has  a  suffrage  department,  and 
the  General  Federation  of  Women's  Clubs  has  formed 


t68o  woman  suffrage 

a  committee  for  the  arrangement  of  political  study 
courses.  As  a  natural  accompaniment  of  the  evolu- 
tion  of  these  and  other  huge  women's  organizations^  the 
tendency  ot  the  present  time  in  the  woman's  move- 

mgfTTTs"  tcTTeturn    to   thp    '^yntlipfir   rnrrplntinn    nf    the 

early  period.  Then,  it  was  because  the  same  women 
were  prominent  in  different^movements :  today,  women 

^w'ho  are  prominent  in  special  phases  realize  the  economy 

f^  jpf  centralized  mtelligence  and  cooperative  resources. 
^  >/and  the  great  organizations  are  dove-tailing  their  de- 
-"■^  partments  in  order  t^  w^^^  tng-ptVipr  J/ Tt  was  Profes- 
sor Frances  Squire  Potter  who  first  saw  and  clearly 
enunciated  this  application  of  the  department  idea  in 
a  working  cooperation  of  men  and  women's  organiza- 
tions in  social  and  political  endeavor.  [The  plan  out- 
lined by  her  in  the  summer  of  1909  is  to  organize  polit- 
ical districts  r^n  thp  rippqrtmpnt  <^(>Vipmp,  with  Central 
headquarters  in  which  all  organizations  share,  this  head- 
uarters  serving  as  a  practical  laboratory  of  citizenship. 
This  is  the  ultiniat"  nf  thp  '^y^^-^^^-i^  mn^-Pi-npnt^  ^nH  ]<; 
called  the  Political  Settlement  Planr? 

he  rise  and  expansion  of  religious,  fraternal,  secret, 

tic,  and  reform  associations  among  women  at  the 

le   19th  century  reminds  one  of  the  swift 

of  new  thought  in  the  Renaissance.    It  impressed 

iar  imagination  and  the  20th  century  is  called  the_ 

Voman's  age.  )  There  are  three  points  upon  which  the 

attention  ot'  women  all  over  the  world  is  being  ever 

more  intently  fixed,     ti^p  flrcf  I'g  prnQj-jtntinrL.:>4Jip  ser~ 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1681 

ond,  inseparably  bound  up  with  the  first,  is  women's, 
wagp';    and    ^rnpomic    independence-    the    third,    pre- 
liminary to  any  consideration  of  the  former  two,  is 
woman  suffrage.    .Owing  to  its  obvious  and  inclusive 
character,  the  last  question  engages  popular  attention 
preeminently.^  Several  causes  are  contributory  to  this 
rise  in  interest  during  the  last  few  years.    First  may  be 
mentioned  the  spectacular  militant  movement  in  Eng- 
land,  W'hich  began  with  the  unfurling  of  the  Votes  for 
"\¥nmpn   bannpr   in    the    "Rnii<;p   of   Commons   in    IQO.'^._ 
The  dramatic  events  the  other  side  of  the  water,  with 
Mrs.  Pankhurst's  lecturing  tours  in  this  country  in  the 
fall  of  IQOQ  and  iQii,  had  a  powerful  effect  in  arous- 
ing  American  women  of  th^  g'^-^alled  "  leisure  class:"_ 
The    increasing   emphasis   put   by   the   Federation   of 
Labor    on    suffrage,    owing    to    the    pressure    of    the 
w^omen's  Trade  Unions,  is  another  cause.     The  growth,. 
t>£.jJip  Snriqh^i-  Party,  and  its  suffrage  petition  to  con- 
gress in  IQI2;  the  formatinr)  ni  flip  Prnerrec-ciyp  Pnrty 

in  IQ12,  its  adoption  of  a  suffrage  plank  and  the  con- 
sequent adherence  of  prominent  women  in  many  parts 
oi-tbe-cQuntry.  are  factors  leading  to  the  presence  of 
woman  suffrage  among  paramount  political  issues  of 
Jjie  day. — But  behind  all  these,  behind  ^the  increasing 
number  of  state  conventions  and  legislatures  which 
year  by  year  submit  the  question  to  referendum,  behind 
the  victorious  suffrage  amendment  in  Washington,  in 
1910,  California,  In  191 1,  Oregon^  Arizona,  and  Kan- 
sas, in   1912,  Alaska,  in   I9i3,\lies  thefuudnmfntal 


i682  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

cause,  which  is  that  women  who  liave  assumed  a  share 


in  th^~worTd's  work  naturally  and  inevi<^flb^Y  lia^-p  rnm^ 
to  demand  a  share  in  the  worF''=  p^n^-'pmmpnt^  ^y^-]] 
the  defeat  siT^taineH  h}^  suffrng^  in  th*?^  '^''hi^^  '^nnititvi^ 
tional  campaign  in  IQ12  was  as  glorious  as  former  vic- 
tories, for  it  polled  a  quarter  of  a  million  fnvonhlf 
>r     votes  and  showed  the  press  overwhelmingly  favorable, 
^ y     while  the  defeat  in  Michigan  of  the  same  year,  by  a 
%7    majority  of  a  few  hundred  votes  frauch^ently  C(Hinted, 
,  is  generally  known  to  have  bee^tu-itrl^ality  a  suffrai 

yit'tory.  _.-^ 

7  "■  In  the  Unrted-^Sfates,  women  vote  on  equal  terms 
withjRCTfm  the  following  states,  named  in  the  order 
nwhich  they  adopted  the  amendment :  Wyoming 
(1869,  1890),  Colorado  (1893),  Utah  (1896),  Idaho 
(1896),  Washington  (1910),  California  (1911),  Ore- 
y  gon,  Arizona,  Kansas  (1912),  Alaska  Territory 
(1913).  Partial  franchise  is  granted  women  in  22 
■^  states,  while  in  17  women  have  no  measure  of  suffrage. 
The  most  important  victory  after  those  in  the  full 
suffrage  states  is  the  gaining  of  presidential  and  munic- 
ipal suffrage  for  women  in  Illinois,  1973.  TPr oof  that 
suffrage  has  become  a  popular  question  i<^  •^een  in  th^ 
aggressive  campaign  methods  adopted  bv  present-day^ 
leaders,  methods  which  would  not  be  tolerated  by  the 
public  It  the  cause  were  not  approved.  AiiToiig  these 
are  parades,  inaugurated  by  the  New  York  parade 
of  May,  191 1,  in  which  3.000  women  marched, 
and  reaching  their  most  beautiful  development  in  the 


rd 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1683 

torchliglit  parade  under  the  auspices  of  the  Woman 
Suffrage  Party  in  New  York  on  the  evening  of  No- 
vember 9,  19 1 2,  to  celebrate  the  suffrage  victories  in 
the  recent  election.  Other  new  and  picturesque  meth- 
ods are  open  air  speaking,  suffrage  auto,  trolley  and 
walking  trips,  distribution  of  literature  from  balloons, 
signs  strung  across  thoroughfares  or  on  buildings,  show 
windows  with  tableaus  or  "demonstrators"  with 
placards  who  keep  a  crowd  collected  day  after  day, 
magic  lantern  slides  run  in  theaters  or  on  street 
screens,  entr'acte  theater  speaking,  suffrage  shops, 
bazars,  tea  rooms,  amateur  plays,  songs,  and  all 
the  time  honored  methods  furbished  up  to  suit  the 
modern  love  of  pageantry.  Regular  headquarters 
are  a  necessity,  press  bureaus  are  multiplying,  "  The 
Woman's  Journal,"  Boston,  "  The  Woman  Voter," 
New  York,  "  The  Forerunner,"  New  York,  "Life  and 
Labor,"  Chicago,  at  their  small  subscription  fees,  are 
indispensable  to  those  who  wish  to  keep  in- 
formed on  the  progress  of  suffrage  in  our  country ."1 
The  Woman  Suffrage  Party  is  a  practical  introduc- 
tion to  politics,  and  it  is  but  a  question  of  brief  time 
when  women  will  be  candidates  for  Congress  and 
State  Legislatures,  as  they  already  are  appointed  to 
national  and  state  positions  of  trust  and  authority. 
But  that  timp  w'W\  n^^t  ^^m^  MMtb^u<^  dptprmined  fffort 
on  the  part  of  women.  Every  step  of  the  way  will 
have  to  be  tought  now  in  the  day  of  victory  as  of 
old   in   the   day   of   defeat.      As   the  enemy's   line   is 


i684  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

broken,  he  becomes  the  more  tenacious  of  what  is 
left.  Those  who  look  for  a  social  landslide  to  bring 
full  suffrage  to  women  in  this  country  by  sheer  force 
of  gravitation  will  look  a  long  time.  The  solid  east 
is  entrenched  against  it,  and  the  solid  west  is  a  long 
way  off. 

(See  Questions  for  Review  Page  1782.) 


MRS.   ELIZABETH   CADY   STANTON. 
A  woman   of  brilliant   mind   and   a   keen   and  feai^ess   worker   for  the 

suEfrage   cause. 


PART  III 
Manhood  Suffrage  In  the  United  States 

By  A.  B.  WOLFE,  PH.  D. 

AMERICAN  political  institutions  are  in  their 
origin  the  heritage  of  two  lines  of  influence — 
the  English  political  ideals  and  methods  which  the  col- 
onists brought  with  them,  and  the  influence  of  the  phi- 
losophy of  the  French  Revolution.  Chief  among  the 
political  ideals  the  colonists  inherited  from  the  mother 
country  was  that  of  representative  government.  As 
England  is  today,  with  the  exception  of  Switzerland, 
probably  the  most  responsive  political  democracy  in 
'existence,  so  we  find  the  origin  of  the  representative 
principle  far  back  in  its  aristocratic  history.  The  germ 
of  representation,  and.  therefore  indirectly  of  suffrage, 
is  found  in  the  jury  system,  which  originated  as  a  de- 
vice of  the  king  to  discover  taxable  property,*  in  the 
ancient  Anglo-Saxon  moots  or  assemblies  of  freemen 
called  together  to  discuss  the  civil  affairs  of  borough, 
hundred,  or  shire  (county)  and  in  the  great  national 
assembly  of  wise  men,  the  witenagemote,  which  was 
the  early  germ  of  Parliament.     The  constitution  of  the 

*  Stubbs,  "  Constitutional  History  of  England,"  I,  652. 

1687 


1 688  MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE 

witenagemote  was  less  popular  than  that  of  the  hun- 
dred- or  shire-moots;  its  members  were  summoned  by 
the  king,  and  he  summoned  whom  he  chose.  The  popu- 
lar voice  was  associated  with  its  deliberations  only  to 
the  extent  that  crowds  of  the  populace  of  the  locality 
in  which  it  happened  at  the  time  to  be  held  attended 
and  shouted  their  approval  or  disapproval.  Until  a 
system  of  representation  had  grown  up  there  could  be 
no  real  participation  by  the  people  in  the  national  gov- 
ernment. 

The  development  of  such  a  system  of  national  repre- 
sentation began  in  1254  when  a  writ  of  Henry  HI 
directed  the  sheriff  of  each  county  to  "cause  to  come" 
to  the  king's  council  two  knights  of  the  shire,  choosen 
by  the  men  of  the  shire.  In  1265  not  only  two  knights 
from  each  shire,  but  two  burgesses  from  each  borough 
were  summoned,  and  in  the  famous  writ  of  Edward  I, 
in  1295,  the  king  summoned  the  knights  and  burgesses 
definitely  to  be  elected  by  the  freeholders.  The  older 
national  council  had  consisted  of  members  of  the 
privileged  classes,  summoned  as  individuals  and  not  as 
representatives.  Down  to  1430  all  male  freeholders 
were  entitled  to  vote  for  knights  of  the  shire,  but  in 
that  year  an  act  was  passed  confining  this  right  to  free- 
holders resident  in  the  county  and  in  possession  of 
land  worth  a  rental  value  of  at  least  forty  shillings  a 
year.  The  preamble  of  the  statute  explains  the  reason 
for  its  passage :  "Whereas  the  elections  of  Knights  of 
the  Shires  to  come  to  the  Parliament  of  our  Lord  the 


MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE  1689 

King  in  many  Counties  of  the  Realm  of  England  have 
now  of  late  been  made  by  very  great  outrageous  and 
excessive  Number  of  People  dwelling  within  the  same 
Counties  of  the  Realm  of  England,  of  which  the  most 
Part  was  of  People  of  small  substance  and  of  no  Value 
whereof  everyone  of  them  pretended  a  Voice  equiva- 
lent as  to  such  Elections  to  be  made,  with  the  most 
worthy  Knights  and  Esquires  dwelling  within  the  same 
Counties,  whereby  Manslaughters  Riot  Batteries  and 
Divisions  among  Gentlemen  and  other  People  of  the 
same  Counties,  shall  very  likely  rise  and  be,  unless  some 
convenient  and  due  Remedy  be  provided  in  this  Behalf 
..."  From  this  time  dates  the  famous  forty-shilling 
freehold  qualification  for  county  voters,  which  was 
retained  in  force  for  almost  exactly  four  hundred  years, 
till  the  great  Reform  Bill  of  1832, 

The  significance  of  this  limitation  for  us  is  that  dur- 
ing all  the  two  centuries  in  which  the  English  colonists 
were  braving  the  storms  of  the  Atlantic  to  set  up  trad- 
ing posts  and  settlements  in  America,  the  national  repre- 
sentation to  which  they  had  been  accustomed  was  based 
upon  a  property-limited  suffrage.  For  while  in  the 
course  of  time  the  definition  of  freehold  had  been  ex- 
tended to  cover  the  possession  of  certain  ofifices  and 
"livings,"  as  well  as  land,  and  while  with  rising  prices 
in  the  i6th  century  a  much  smaller  amount  of  land 
sufficed  for  a  forty-shilling  freehold,  the  county  suf- 
frage still  remained  essentially  aristocratic,  and  Parlia- 
ment continued,  to  an  increasing  extent,  to  be  made  up 
7 


1690  MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE 

of  representatives  of  the  great  land-holding  interests. 
In  the  towns,  as  time  went  on,  a  veritable  hodge- 
podge of  suffrage  qualifications  grew  up.  By  common 
law  the  election  of  representatives  to  Parliament  was 
the  right  of  the  inhabitant  householders,  but  in  a  large 
number  of  boroughs  other,  and  exceedingly  complex 
and  various,  qualifications  prevailed,  fixed  by  local  cus- 
tom or  by  royal  charter.*  "  The  right  of  suffrage  might 
extend  to  all  the  householding  inhabitants  of  the 
borough,  or  it  might  be  limited  solely  to  the  score  of 
officers  of  the  corporation;  it  might  include  hundreds 
of  resident  and  non-resident  freemen,  or  pertain  to  only 
the  holders  of  a  dozen  or  fifty  ancient  land  tenures ;  in 
some  places  it  included  the  forty-shilling  freeholders, 
in  others  the  occupants  of  certain  original  houses,  often 
little  more  than  dilapidated  hovels ;  in  others  still  every 
potwalloper,  or  man  boiling  his  own  pot,  had  the  right 
to  vote.f  Sometimes  the  choice  of  parliamentary  repre- 
sentatives fell  into  the  hands  of  only  two  or  three 
persons,  and  thus  grew  up  the  list  of  "rotten"  or 
"nomination"  boroughs  which  contributed  to  whole- 
sale corruption  and  to  the  deep  discontent  of  the  great 
new  manufacturing  cities  like  Birmingham  and  Leeds 
which  were  without  representation  of  any  sort,  and 
which  finally  led,  after  decades  of  effort,  to  radical  re- 


* 


May,  "  Constitutional  History  of  England,"  I,  263,  ff. 
tA.   E.   McKinley,  "The  Suffrage  Franchise  in   the   Thirteen 
Enalish  Colonies  of  America,"  p.  10.    See  pp.  10-16  for  brief  dis- 
cussion of  these  various  qualifications. 


MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE  1691 

vision  of  franchise  qualifications  and  redistribution  of 
parliamentary  representation  in  1832,  and  again  in 
1867  and  1885.*  ^y  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  when  American  colonization  was  in  full  swing. 
Parliamentary  representation  had  becom.e  an  illusion, 
and  remained  so  for  two  hundred  years,  thanks  to  the 
influence  of  the  aristocratic  county  franchise,  the  selfish 
policies  of  the  great  landed  interests,  the  apathy  of  the 
population  in  the  old  boroughs,  and  the  growth  of  all 
sorts  of  restricted  borough  franchises  which  could  be, 
and  were,  controlled  by  the  crown  and  the  nobility. 
Bribery  was  universal  and  unblushing,  and  the  Eng- 
lish electorate,  composed  so  largely  of  country  squires 
whose  most  serious  interests  were  horse-racing  and  box- 
ing matches,  had  sunk  to  its  lowest  ebb. 

Out  of  such  a  political  soil  came  the  American  colon- 
ists. That  they  brought  with  them,  as  they  did,  ideas 
of  a  closely  limited  suffrage  is  not  to  be  wondered  at; 
that  they  left  behind  them  most  of  the  bribery  and 
corruption  current  in  English  life  must  forever  be  to 
their  credit.  While  the  whole  fabric  of  English  parlia- 
mentary and  local  government  was  in  sad  need  of  over- 
hauling, while  it  was  shot  through  with  inconsistencies, 
injustices,  and  corruption,  the  colonists,  nevertheless, 
brought  with  them  the  priceless  heritage  which  still  un- 
derlay English  institutions — the  tradition  of  political 

*  For  an  account  of  the  reforms  of  1832,  see  May,  "  Constitu- 
tional History  of  England,"  I,  Ch.  6;  for  those  of  1867  and  1885, 
Lowell,  "The  Government  of  England,"  I,  Ch.  9;  and  Anson. 
"Law  and  Custom  of  the  Constitution"  I,  Ch.  5. 


1692  MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE 

liberty,  the  struggle  to  secure  and  extend  which  has 
been  the  main  thread  of  English  political  history  from 
King  John  and  the  barons  at  Runnimede  to  Lloyd- 
George  and  the  passing  of  the  House  of  Lords.  And 
we  consequently  find  that  a  not  inconsiderable  element 
in  American  colonial  history  is  constituted  by  the  con- 
tinued and  repeated  efforts  of  the  men  of  land  and 
property  to  maintain  their  right  to  the  franchise,  against 
the  efforts  of  the  royal  grantees  and  governors  to  de- 
prive them  of  it,  or  to  nullify  its  effects. 

The  government  of  the  American  colonies  was  very 
far,  however,  from  what  we  should  today  call  demo- 
cratic. It  is  true  that  the  colonists  succeeded  in  ac- 
quiring and  maintaining  control  over  the  public  purse, 
a  control  which  came  down  to  our  National  Government 
in  the  form  of  the  constitutional  provision  that  all 
revenue  bills  must  originate  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives. (Art.  I,  Section  7)  ;  but  the  colonists  were 
the  offshoot  of  a  people  whose  notions  were  not  those 
of  democracy,  but  of  government  by  the  "substantial" 
men  of  the  country,  and  prior  to  the  industrial  revolu- 
tion, which  took  place  between  1776  and  1832,  that  was 
interpreted  to  mean  government  by  the  landed  gentry. 
Whatever  the  final  judgment  of  history  may  be  with 
regard  to  the  character  of  the  colonists  themselves,  it 
is  clear  that  they  left  the  mother  country  at  a  time 
when  political  corruption  was  the  accepted  order  of  the 
day,  when  religious  bigotry  and  nagging  intolerance 
and  persecution  of  non-conformists  (especially  Catho- 


MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE  1693 

lies)  was  universal,  and  when  the  landed  aristocracy, 
in  league  with  the  selfish  intrenched  special  interests  in 
the  rotten  boroughs  were  deliberately  setting  their  face 
against  any  action  looking  toward  the  bringing  order 
out  of  the  confusion  and  justice  out  of  the  glaring 
inequities    and    iniquities    of    the    English    suffrage. 
Whether  the  colonists  came  as  religious  enthusiasts,  or 
as  most  did,  seeking  economic  opportunity  under  the 
wing  of  some  trading  company  and  royal  grant,  they 
brought  with  them  no  new,  no  radical,  political  theories. 
The  Puritans,  about  whose  championship  of  the  cause 
of  liberty  so  much  has  been  said,  had  scarcely  landed  on 
the   rocky   shores  of   Massachusetts   Bay  before  they 
manifested  a  religious  bigotry  not  less  conspicuous  than 
that  from  which  they  "  fled,"  for  both  Massachusetts 
Bay  and  Plymouth  lost  little  time  in  declaring  that 
"  freemanship"    in    their    corporation    should    not    be 
granted  to  non-church  members.    This  meant  that  only 
church  members  could  vote  for  civil  officers.     More- 
over, dissenters  —  Quakers,  Baptists,  and  Catholics  — 
were  strictly  excluded  from  the  franchise  and  otherwise 
harshly  treated.      "  Democracy."   said  Cotton,   "  I  do 
not  conceive  that  God  ever  did  ordain  as  a  fit  Govern- 
ment either  for  Church  or  Commonwealth."  *     The 
colonists,  religious  prejudices  apart,  were  not  inspired 
by  any  noble  belief  in  the  average  man.     Everywhere 

*  For  a  discussion  of  religions  restrictions  in  Massachusetts 
and  Plymouth,  see  McKinley,  "  Suffrage  Franchise  in  the  Colo- 
nies," Ch.  II,  and  Bishop,  "History  of  Elections  in  the  American 
Colonies,"  pp.  56-64. 


i694  MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE 

the  property  qualification  for  the  franchise  was  retained, 
and  not  infrequently  made  much  more  stringent  than  in 
England. 

The  history  of  suffrage  in  the  colonies  is  complex 
and  difficult  to  follow  because  of  the  variety  of  colonial 
charters,  the  conflicts  between  the  people  and  the  royal 
governors,  and  the  diverse  influence  of  conflicting  re- 
ligious and  class  interests.  In  Virginia,  the  oldest 
colony,  manhood  suffrage,  it  is  true,  at  the  very  outset 
prevailed,  but  as  soon  as  the  colony  began  to  be  aug- 
mented by  the  working  classes,  who  came  in  as  in- 
dentured servants,  the  franchise  was  strictly  limited 
to  property  owners,  and  remained  so  until  the  Revolu- 
tion, In  New  York,  to  take  another  example,  fifteen 
years  elasped  before  there  was  a  shadow  of  popular 
participation  in  the  government  of  the  colony.  Not 
until  1688  was  a  truly  representative  assembly  sum- 
moned, and  then  only  on  an  extremely  limited  suffrage, 
and  without  any  settled  order  of  representation.*  There 
was  a  long  struggle  for  something  like  popular  govern- 
ment. In  1683  it  was  finally  enacted  that  "in  all  elec- 
tions the  majority  of  Voices  shall  carry  it  and  by  free- 
holders is  understood  everyone  who  is  Soe  understood  ac- 
cording to  the  Lawes  of  England,"  a  provision  which  was 
made  more  explicit  by  an  act  of  1691..  which  declared 
that  "by  freeholders  is  to  be  understood  every  one 
who  shall  have  fourty-shillings  per  annum  in  freehold."  f 

*  See  McKinley,  p.  196. 

t  Quoted  by  McKinley,  pp.  200  and  210. 


MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE  1695 

Thus  the  recognized  English  quahfication  was  inserted 
bodily  into  colonial  law.  In  1699  this  forty-shilling 
freehold  requirement  was  changed,  and  thereafter  the 
elector  must  possess  lands  or  tenements  to  the  value  of 
forty  pounds.  Moreover  New  York  excluded  Catholics 
from  the  franchise,  in  1701,  and  Jews  in  1737,  though 
it  is  uncertain  whether  either  restriction  was  strictly 
enforced.  The  local  suffrage  varied  greatly  from  time 
to  time  and  place  to  place,  but  generally  speaking,  only 
inhabitant  freeholders  could  vote. 

The  same  narrow  franchise  is  found  in  Maryland. 
In  the  early  years  of  the  colony,  as  in  Virginia,  man- 
hood suft'rage  without  regard  to  residence,  payment  of 
taxes,  or  possession  of  land,  was  exercised,  but  this 
gave  way  in  1670  to  a  requirement  of  fifty  acres  of 
land  or  other  estate  worth  at  least  forty  pounds.  This 
qualification  remained  in  force  until  the  Revolution, 
as  did  also  a  remarkable  provision  for  compulsory  vot- 
ing, in  the  shape  of  a  fine  of  100  pounds  of  tobacco  upon 
any  qualified  male  who  without  good  excuse  neglected 
to  vote.  Maryland  also  excluded  Catholics  (who  had 
founded  the  colony!)  in  1654,  1689,  and  again  in  1718. 

In  North  Carolina  no  definite  suffrage  provisions  were 
in  force  for  the  first  fifty  years.  In  171 5  suffrage  was 
granted  to  all  white  tax-paying  freemen  over  twenty 
years  old.  Later,  owing  to  pressure  from  royal  gov- 
ernors, a  land  qualification  (fifty  acres  freehold)  was 
added  and  remained  in  force  until  the  Revolution.  In 
South  Carolina  frequent  elections  and  the  use  of  bal- 


1696  MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE 

lots  and  ballot  boxes  contributed  to  an  unexpectedly 
liberal  suffrage,  in  spite  of  a  variety  of  changing 
property  and  tax-payment  qualifications.  Here  too, 
however,  Catholics  were  excluded. 

In  Pennsylvania  the  general  requirement,  both  in 
colonial  and  local  elections,  w^as  the  possession  of  fifty 
acres  of  land  or  other  estate  worth  £50.  Delaware's 
franchise  was  similar,  with  a  fine  for  neglecting  to  vote 
added.  The  condition  of  affairs  in  Pennsylvania  is 
vividly  suggested  by  ]\IcKinley:  "From  1706  onward 
the  interest  in  the  suffrage  in  Pennsylvania  centers  not 
in  the  electors  but  in  the  masses  of  non-voters,  who, 
legally  disqualified,  used  every  possible  means  to  influ- 
ence the  elections.  One  sees  them  frequently  in  the 
background  of  the  election  picture  with  sticks  or  stones 
or  even  'billets  of  wood,'  instead  of  the  forbidden  bal- 
lots, trying  by  physical  means  to  express  their  opinions. 
From  this  point  of  view*  the  ruling  class  they  are  '  ser- 
vants,' or  'great  numbers  of  disorderly  persons,'  or  an 
'outrageous  ^lultitude,'  who  by  their  'rude  and  dis- 
orderly behaviour,'  disturb  the  elections,  or  who  'pre- 
sumed to  vote  when  they  did  not  have  the  right  to 
do  so.' "  * 

Space  does  not  permit  even  a  bare  outline  of  the 
evolution  of  the  suffrage  in  the  other  colonies.  Let 
us  merely  summarize  the  various  kinds  of  qualifica- 
tions that  existed  during  colonial  times  and  formed  the 
basis  upon  which  the  suffrage  requirements  of  the  origi- 

♦McKinley,  p.  284. 


MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE  1697 

nal  thirteen  state  constitutions  were  based.  The  colo- 
nial restrictions  included  sex,  age,  race,  and  nationality, 
religion,  good  character,  residence,  property,  freeman- 
ship  in  corporations,  and  certain  cjualifications  akin  to 
the  borough  franchise  in  England.  The  sex  restriction 
was  universal,  except  in  New  Jersey,  where  in  colonial 
times  it  seems  that  at  least  a  few  prominent  women 
voted.  It  was  not  thought  necessary,  usually,  spe- 
cifically to  exclude  women,  although  this  was  done  by 
a  Virginia  statute  in  1699.  South  Carolina,  Georgia, 
and  Delaware  also  definitely  excluded  women.  The 
age  limit  was  twenty-one  years,  except  in  Massachu- 
setts which,  in  1647,  set  it  at  twenty- four.  Negroes 
were  barred  in  some  of  the  soiithern  colonies,  though 
at  comparatively  late  dates,  but  in  the  northern  colo- 
nies they  were  generally  permitted  to  vote  if  they  could 
fulfil  the  qualifications  as  to  freemanship,  property, 
etc.  The  English  common  law  principle  that  no  for- 
eigner could  exercise  political  rights  was  adopted  by 
the  colonies.  After  1740  Parliament  forbade  the  natu- 
ralization of  any  Catholic  aliens  in  the  colonies  —  a 
policy  which  New  York  and  Massachusetts  had  al- 
ready adopted.  Religious  qualifications,  as  we  should 
expect,  were  more  rigidly  enforced  and  were  more 
exclusive  in  New  England  than  elsewhere.  Massa- 
chusetts, as  we  have  seen,  required  church  member- 
ship as  a  basis  of  citizenship,  and  after  1664 
the  few  new  freemen  admitted  were  obliged  to  pre- 
sent  certificates    from   the  ministers   of   their   towns, 


1698  MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE 

certifying  that  they  were  orthodox  in  their  be- 
hef.  Even  Connecticut,  in  practice  if  not  in  law, 
appears  to  have  enforced  reHgious  conformity.  Par- 
ticular sects  were  outlawed,  as  the  Quakers  in  the 
middle  of  the  seventeenth  century,  from  Virginia  to 
Massachusetts  (with  the  exception  of  Rhode  Island). 
Baptists  fared  little  better  and  Catholics  fared  worst. 
The  attitude  toward  them  in  New  England  was  always 
hostile.  In  other  colonies  it  varied  with  the  changes 
in  English  politics.  Jews  were  disfranchised  almost  as 
frequently  as  Catholics.  Good  character  qualifications 
were  common  in  New  England  but  elsewhere  unusual. 
Residence  requirements  were  rarely  made  in  New  Eng- 
land, because  of  the  fact  that  before  a  man  could 
settle  in  a  town  he  had  to  get  the  consent  of  the  author- 
ities. The  most  important  and  characteristic  limitation 
was  the  property  qualification.  During  the  seventeenth 
century  it  was  either  expressly  provided  for  or  implied 
in  the  laws  and  customs  of  many  of  the  colonies  and 
in  the  eighteenth  century  such  a  requirement  was  uni- 
versal. 

In  addition  to  the  foregoing  requirements  some  of 
the  colonies  had  restrictions  on  the  admission  of  free- 
men to  citizenship  which  virtually  amounted  to  further 
restriction  on  the  suffrage.  The  candidate  for  admis- 
sion might  be  required  to  pass  a  period  of  probation, 
to  take  certain  oaths,  to  present  a  certificate  of  moral 
and  property  qualifications,  etc.  The  most  remarkable 
of  all  the  franchise  requirements  was  found  in  Rhode 


MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE  1699 

Island  where,  after  1723,  the  pohtical  power  of  the 
freeman-freeholder  included  not  only  himself  but  his 
oldest  son  as  well,  if  he  were  of  age.  The  son,  that 
is,  was  admitted  to  the  town  and  colonial  franchise  by 
hereditary  right,  as  was  the  case  in  the  borough  fran- 
chise in  certain  English  towns.  In  the  colonial  towns 
almost  as  wide  a  variety  of  qualifications  for  the  local 
franchise  could  be  found  as  in  the  English  boroughs. 
And  in  addition  to  all  the  other  types  of  franchise  the 
president  and  six  teachers  in  one  American  college 
(William  and  Mary,  in  Virginia)  had  by  right  of  their 
office  th.e  right  to  vote  for  members  of  the  house  of 
burgesses  —  thus  duplicating  the  English  University 
franchise. 

At  best  only  a  small  proportion  of  the  male  adult 
population  had  the  right  to  vote.  "In  general,"  says 
McKinley,  "the  potential  voters  seem  to  vary  from 
one-sixth  to  one-fiftieth  of  the  population,  and  the 
actual  voters  shovv^  an  almost  equal  variation ;  Massa- 
chusetts and  Connecticut  showing  at  times  only  two 
per  cent  of  actual  voters  among  a  population  where 
perhaps  sixteen  per  cent  were  qualified  electors;  and 
New  York  City  and  Virginia  showing  the  far  larger 
proportion  of  eight  per  cent  of  the  population  as  actual 
voters.  At  best  the  colonial  elections  called  forth  both 
relatively  and  absolutely  only  a  small  fraction  of  the 
present  percentage  of  voters.  Property  qualifications, 
poor  means  of  communication,  large  election  districts, 
and  the  absenceof  party  organization  combined  to  make 


I700  MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE 

the  most  sharply  contested  elections  feeble  ni  their  ef- 
fects upon  the  community  as  compared  with  the  wide- 
spread suffrage  of  the  twentieth  century."  * 

During"  the  eighteenth  century  economic  changes  m 
the  colonies  were  comparatively  slight^  immigration 
small,  and  the  westward  growth  of  population  slow. 
The  stimulus  was  yet  lacking  to  a  vigorous  movement 
for  suffrage  extension,  and  we  need  not  be  surprised 
to  find  that  at  the  time  of  the  ratification  of  our  Federal 
Constitution  no  state  had  manhood  suffrage.  Nor  was 
representation  anywhere  in  ratio  to  population,  but  to 
taxpayers,  or  freeholders,  or  the  number  of  electors  in 
the  county  or  district.  During  the  Revolution,  says 
McMaster,  no  principle  of  popular  government  had 
been  more  loudly  proclaimed  than  the  great  truth  that 
all  governments  derive  their  just  powers  from  the  con- 
sent of  the  governed.  Yet  most  of  the  early  state  con- 
stitutions took  over  the  suffrage  qualifications  of  the 
colonial  era.  "  The  government  set  up  by  many  a  con- 
stitution, despite  the  principle  announced  in  its  pre- 
amble was  that  of  a  class.  Nowhere  save  in  Vermont 
did  manhood  suffrage  exist.  Elsewhere  no  man  voted 
who  did  not  pay  a  property  tax,  or  rent  a  house,  or  own 
a  specified  number  of  acres  of  land,  or  have  a  specified 
yearly  income.  Each  one  of  the  state  constitutions 
guaranteed  liberty  of  conscience;  but  the  man  who  did 
not  exercise  that  liberty  of  conscience  in  such  wise  as 
to  become  a  Protestant  or  a  Catholic,  a  trinitarian  or  a 
*McKinley,  "Suffrage  Franchise  in  the  Colonies,"  pp.  487-488. 


MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE  1701 

believer  in  the  divine  inspiration  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testament  must  give  up  all  hope  of  political  prefer- 
ment. Even  to  such  as  could  subscribe  to  creeds  and 
doctrines,  the  way  to  public  office  was  barred  by  prop- 
erty qualifications,  which  increased  with  the  dignity 
of  the  office  until  it  became  absolutely  impossible  for 
a  poor  man  to  become  a  candidate  for  the  state  senate 
or  the  governorship."  * 

Thus  for  years  after  the  Revolution  the  qualifica- 
tions for  office  holding  were  even  more  stringent  than 
for  the  franchise.  The  country  was  slow  to  change 
this  system.  Massachusetts,  in  1821,  when  it  removed 
the  property  test  from  others,  retained  it  as  a  quali- 
fication for  candidates  for  the  state  senate.  So,  too, 
for  years  no  atheist,  freethinker,  Jew,  or  Catholic  could 
be  governor  in  New  Jersey,  New  Hampshire,  Con- 
necticut, or  Vermont.  Any  Christian  could  be  gov- 
ernor of  Massachusetts  or  Maryland.  Elsewhere  he 
must  be  a  believer  in  an  inspired  Bible,  or  in  heaven  and 
hell,  or  acknowledge  one  God.  In  four  states  no  priest 
or  clergyman  could  hold  political  office.  Some  states 
required  of  their  governors  not  only  religious  qualifi- 
cations, but  ownership  of  wealth  in  amounts  ranging 
from  $100  to  $10,000.  In  a  number  of  states  there 
were  heavy  property  qualifications  for  membership  in 
one  or  both  houses  of  the  legislature.! 

*McMaster,   "History   of  the  People  of  the   United  States," 

V.  pp.  376-377- 

t  McMaster,  III,  pp.  I47-I49- 


I702  MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE 

That  these  diverse  and  aristocratic  quaUtications 
could  persist  after  the  formation  of  our  Federal  Union 
was  due  to  the  fact  that  the  Constitution  left  suffrage 
regulation  to  the  states,  with  the  single  proviso  that 
all  state  governments  should  be  republican  in  form. 
(Art.  IV,  Sec.  4.)  It  also  provided  (Art.  I,  Sec.  2) 
that  the  electors  of  the  Federal  House  of  Representa- 
tives should  have  the  same  qualification  in  any  state 
as  the  electors  of  the  most  numerous  branch  of  the 
state  legislature.  Such  freedom  for  the  states  to  widen 
suffrage  if  they  pleased  was  distasteful  to  ardent  Fed- 
eralists like  Hamilton,  but  the  framers  of  the  Consti- 
tution knew  from  the  temper  of  the  people  that  any 
restriction  of  the  suffrage  by  the  central  government 
would  lead  to  a  rejection  of  the  proposed  constitution.* 

A  number  of  powerful  influences  cooperated  after 
1789  to  the  gradual  removal  of  the  old  suffrage  restric- 
tions. The  philosophy  of  the  French  Revolution  —  lib- 
erty, equality,  fraternity  —  was  having  powerful  ef- 
fect in  this  country,  especially  through  the  Jeffersonian 
Democrats.  Everywhere  the  rights  of  men  were  con- 
trasted to  the  political  disabilities  under  which  a  large 
part  of  the  male  populace  was  laboring.  The  demand 
for  popular  government  became  irresistible.  One  state 
after  another,  in  spite  of  the  opposition  of  the  proper- 
tied classes  and  to  some  extent  of  educated  people, 
abolished  property  and  religious  qualifications.  To  this 
result   contributed   the   development  of  transportation 

*  Cf.  Smith,  "  Spirit  of  American  Government." 


MAXHOOD  SUFFRAGE  1703 

facilities,  the  opening  of  new  lands  to  settlement,  the 
general  equaHty  of  economic  opportunity  afforded  by 
a  new  country  awakening  to  its  resources,  and  to  a 
new  national  consciousness.  Xo  doubt  also  the  devel- 
opment of  political  parties,  bidding  against  each  other 
for  votes,  helped  the  movement  along.  So  also  did 
the  growth  of  towns  and  industrial  centers  in  which 
the  old  land  qualifications  were  doubly  irksome. 

Reform  was  the  order  of  the  day  from  1790  to  1800. 
\\'ithin  these  ten  years  at  least  eight  states  materially 
broadened  their  suffrage  and  office-holding  rights.    The 
religious  qualification  was  first  to  go,  in  Pennsylvania, 
and  then  in  South  Carolina,  X'^ew  Hampshire,  Dela- 
ware,  and   Georgia,      Property   tests   were   taken   off 
in  X^ew  Hampshire  and  Kentucky,  and  reduced  in  some 
other  states.     The  second  decade  of  our  national  his- 
tory was  preeminently  a  period  of  state  constitution 
making.      The  movement  toward  universal  manhood 
suffrage  continued  unabated,  though  making  headwa}- 
against  the  opposition  of  the  privileged  classes.     The 
property  test  was  abolished  in  Maryland  in  1801  and 
1809,  in  X^ew  York  and  Massachusetts  in  1821,  and 
later  in  Tennessee  (1834),  New  Jersey  (1844),  Con- 
necticut (1845),  ^"<^^  i"  Virginia  not  until  1850.     By 
the  opening  of  the  Civil  \\'ar  only  a  few  belated  states 
still  required  some  property  qualification.     In   South 
Carolina  it  was  abolished  in  1865,  in  X^orth  Carolina 
in   1854  and   1868.     The  taxpaying  requirement  was 
abolished  in  X^ew  York  in  1826.  in  ^Mississippi  in  1882 


1704 


MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE 


(established  in  1862),  in  Louisiana  in  1845,  Ohio  in 
1 85 1,  and  in  Virginia,  where  it  had  been  imposed  in 
1862,  in  1882.  The  dates  are  in  themselves  of  little 
consequence,  but  taken  collectively  they  are  significant 
indications  of  the  slowness  with  which  the  theory  of 
the  rights  of  man  and  of  "universal"  suffrage  was 
actually  put  into  the  laws  of  the  country.  In  many 
cases,  of  course,  the  old  restrictive  laws  had  become 
practically  inoperative  long  before  they  disappeared 
from  the  statute  books,  but  the  extension  of  the 
suffrage  was  subject  to  bitter  opposition,  especially  in 
the  East.  The  history  of  the  long  struggle  for  man- 
hood suffrage  in  New  York,  where  the  removal  of  the 
property  test  was  vigorously  opposed  by  Chancellor 
Kent,  one  of  the  greatest  of  American  jurists,  and  in 
Massachusetts,  where  Daniel  Webster  opposed  the  re- 
moval of  a  property  qualification  for  candidates  to  the 
state  senate,  is  full  of  interest  *  and  vividly  suggestive 
of  some  of  the  aristocratic  forebodings  expressed  by 
a  certain  class  of  people  nowadays  at  the  thought  of 
extending  the  suffrage  to  women. 

In  other  ways  the  preponderant  trend  of  political 
thought  toward  democracy  was  manifest.  Various 
states  abandoned  the  old  indirect  method  of  electing 
the  governor  through  the  legislature,  and  South  Caro- 
lina and  Maryland,  which  had  had  an  indirect  method 
of  electing  their  senates,   abandoned  it  in   1778  and 

*See    McMaster,    "History    of    the    People    of    the    United 
States, "  V,  Ch.  50. 


MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE  1705 

1837,  respectively.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Federal  Constitution  despite  the  fact  that 
it  was  haled  as  a  most  democratic  instrument  was  away 
from,  rather  than  toward,  actual  democracy.  The  fact 
that  the  states,  under  their  original  constitution  or 
charters,  which  gave  the  legislatures  great  powers,  had 
had,  with  limited  suffrage,  some  unfortunate  experi- 
ences with  their  legislatures  made  them  all  the  more 
likely  to  imitate,  in  their  constitutional  revisions,  the 
cumbersome  system  of  checks  and  balances  and  the 
rigid  separation  of  legislative,  executive,  and  judicial 
powers,  which  constituted  the  most  original  feature 
in  the  Federal  Constitution,  and  which  have  since 
proved  to  be  its  greatest  defect.  The  states  proceeded 
to  increase  the  power  of  the  governor  and  of  the  courts 
to  nullify  legislation,  and  to  throw  about  the  legisla- 
tures all  sorts  of  constitutional  limitations.  Such  lim- 
itations were  perhaps  necessary  under  the  conditions 
of  the  time,  but  how  far  they  may  go  toward  nullify- 
ing popular  government  has  not  been  realized  until 
recent  years.* 

Before  the  Civil  War,  then,  the  old  landed  aristoc- 
racy ideals  which  had  dominated  colonial  thought  and 
practice,  the  old  intrusion  of  religious  bigotry  into  mat- 
ters of  state,  the  limitations,  tests,  and  indirections  by 

*  A  suggestive  book  on  the  aristocratic  elements  in  American 
constitutions  is  J.  A.  Smith's  "  The  Spirit  of  American  Govern- 
ment," 1907.     Cf.  also  H.  Croly's  "Promise  of  American  Life," 

8 


i7o6  MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE 

which  the  propertied  classes  had  effectually  excluded 
the  masses  from  a  voice  in  government,  were  swept 
away,  though  not  without  a  struggle,  before  the  doc- 
trine of  the  rights  of  man  and  the  resistless  logic  of 
American  economic  conditions,  where  free  land  and 
substantial  equality  of  economic  opportunity  meant  the 
melting  away  of  the  old  class  lines  wdiich  had  been  the 
inheritance  of  English  polity  and  English  social  or- 
ganization. It  is  probable  as  has  been  suggested 
(Smith,  "Spirit  of  American  Government")  that  the 
property  qualifications  would  not  have  been  removed 
without  a  more  serious  opposition  had  it  not  appeared 
that  the  wide  diffusion  of  landed  property  would  be  in 
some  measure  a  guarantee  that  the  interests  of  the 
propertied  classes  would  not  be  seriously  endangered 
by  manhood  suffrage.  Had  the  privileged  classes  fore- 
seen clearly  that  within  half  a  century  a  vast  mass  of 
the  population  would  be  virtually  without  taxable 
property  they  would  probably  have  presented  a  more 
united  front  against  the  radical  extension  of  the  suffrage. 
As  it  was,  the  democratic  movement,  hampered  by  the 
eternal  discussion  of  slavery,  and  broken  in  upon  by 
the  Civil  War,  did  not  move  clearly  and  smoothly 
enough  to  see  its  own  logic  and  consequently  did  not 
attain  vigor  enough  to  extend  the  suffrage  to  women 
and  it  would  not  have  given  it,  even  nominally,  to 
negroes  had  sectional  feeling  after  the  war  not  pro- 
duced an  abnormal  state  of  public  sentiment  in  the 
North. 


;    .  >\     '   '  > 
>  >       1  >     ' 


Copyright   1912   by  Ella  Biichaiiaii.   Sculpties>. 

CAPTIVITY'S   CAPTIVE. 
Woman  Tied   to  Money   Bags  Showing  Economic  Dependence. 


MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE  1709 

The  doctrine  of  the  rights  of  man,  except  in  the 
minds   of  the   hated  aboHtionists,   did  not  extend  to 
negroes.     Outside  of  New  England,  where  by  law  in 
five  states  negroes  could  vote,  there  was  no  s.tate  in 
the  Union  in  1865  which  did  not  discriminate  against 
the  negro.     Tennessee  granted  a  restricted  suffrage.* 
New  York,  by  its  constitution  of  1821  and  1846  while 
extending  the  suffrage  to  all  adult  white  males,  sub- 
jected   negroes   to   a   practically   prohibitive   property 
qualification,  and  as  late  as   i860  it  refused  negroes 
equal  political  rights  with  whites  by  a  vote  of  338,000 
to  198,000.     Several  states  which  had  earlier  allowed 
negroes  to  vote  withdrew  the  privilege.     They  could 
vote  everywhere  before  the  revolution  except  in  Vir- 
ginia, the  Carolinas,  and  Georgia,!  but  before   1834 
they  had  been  disfranchised  in  Delaware,  Maryland, 
and  Kentucky,  and  all  the  acts  of  Congress  establish- 
ing territories  before  the  Civil  War  expressly  reserved 
the  suffrage  to  whites,  as  did  also  the  constitution  of 
West  Virginia  in  1863.     After  the  war  we  might  ex- 
pect to  see  race  discrimination  disappearing  from  the 
northern  states.     On  the  contrary  the  constitution  of 
the  new  state  of  Nebraska,  in  1866,  denied  negroes  the 
right  to  vote,  and  negro  suffrage  was  voted  down  by 
decisive  majorities  in  Connecticut,  Minnesota,  and  Wis- 
consin.    Tn  the  latter  state,  however,  the  state  supreme 

*  Stephenson,  "Race  Distinctions  in  American  Law,"  p.  284. 
t  Bishop,   "History    of  Elections   in   the   American    Colonies" 
pp.  51-52. 


I7I0  MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE 

court,  in  1866,  held  that  suffrage  had  been  granted  the 
negroes  by  popular  vote  in  1849.*  I"  1868  once  more 
negro  suffrage  was  voted  down  in  New  York,  this 
time  by  a  close  margin.  On  the  other  hand,  Minnesota 
reversed  its  previous  vote  and  extended  the  franchise 
to  negroes  in  1868,  as  did  Iowa  and  Dakotah  Terri- 
tory. Congress,  in  1867,  granted  the  suffrage  to  ne- 
groes in  the  District  of  Columbia,  although  the  white 
males  of  Washington  had  rejected  the  extension  by  a 
vote  of  6,521  to  35.  In  1866  Congress  granted  negro 
suffrage  in  the  territories. 

Then  followed  the  Fourteenth  and  Fifteenth  Amend- 
ments to  the  Federal  Constitution.  The  Fourteenth 
Amendment  conferred  citizenship  on  the  negro  and 
provided  that  any  state  abridging  the  rights  of  male 
citizens  to  vote  should  suffer  a  reduction  in  its  con- 
gressional representation.  This  was  a  device  to  get 
the  southern  states  to  enfranchise  the  blacks,  but  none 
of  them  took  the  bait  and,  feeling  running  higher  in 
the  North,  both  inside  and  outside  Congress,  the  Fif- 
teenth Amendment,  conferring  the  right  to  vote  on 
negro  men,  was  passed  and  forced  upon  the  South  at 
the  point  of  the  bayonet  —  whether  justly  or  unjustly, 
wisely  or  otherwise,  we  need  not  here  attempt  to  say. 
It  is  significant,  however,  that  in  1870  when  the  amend- 

*  Stephenson,  "Race  Distinctions  in  American  Law,"  p.  288; 
F.  E.  Baker,  "Brief  History  of  the  Elective  Franchise  in  Wis- 
consin," in  Wisconsin  Historical  Society  Proceedings,  Vol.  41, 
p.  125. 


MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE  1711 

ment  was  ratified  the  constitutions  of  sixteen  northern 
states,  from  Connecticut  to  CaHfornia,  still  denied  the 
negro  the  right  to  vote.  That  race  prejudice  is  not 
the  peculiar  characteristic  of  any  one  section  or  any- 
one time  is  vividly  proved  by  the  fact  that  the  people 
of  Ohio  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1912  voted  down  an 
amendment  providing  for  the  removal  of  the  word 
"white"  from  the  state  constitution. 

The  Civil  War,  the  stress  of  Reconstruction,  and  the 
determination  of  radical  northern  leaders,  like  Charles 
Sumner  and  Thaddeus  Stevens,  that  the  negro  should 
be  enfranchised  at  all  costs,  and  the  fact  that  the  strug- 
gle in  Congress  and  in  the  South  turned  public  atten- 
tion away  from  everything  else,  inevitably  put  a  stop 
for  many  years  to  any  effective  agitation  for  the  en- 
franchisement of  women.  Everywhere  the  advocates 
of  women's  rights  were  met,  even  by  their  friends, 
with  the  consoling  sentiment,  "This  is  the  negro's 
hour;"  and  so  the  women,  patience  being  the  badge 
of  all  their  tribe,  had  to  wait. 

The  southern  white  voters  have  found  ways  in  re- 
cent years  to  nullify  the  effect  of  the  Fifteenth  Amend- 
ment and  to  disfranchise  the  negro  anew;  today,  in 
consequence,  a  body  of  educational  and  property  qual- 
ifications stand  in  the  constitution  of  the  southern  states 
—  practically  the  only  serious  limitations  on  manhood 
suffrage  in  this  country.  Practically  all  the  states, 
it  is  true,  both  north  and  south,  deny  the  vote  to  insane 
persons,  idiots,  and  to  certain  kinds  of  criminals,  and 


I7I2  MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE 

Chinese  not  born  in  this  country  are  excluded  from  the 
franchise  by  interpretation  of  the  Constitution.  Fif- 
teen or  twenty  states  deny  the  vote  to  paupers.  One 
state,  Rhode  Island,  has  a  nominal  property  qualili- 
cation  (ownership  of  $134  worth  of  property)  in 
municipal  elections.  In  the  Philippines  the  govern- 
ment has  also  imposed  a  property  test.  Six  northern 
states,  Hawaii,  and  the  Philippines,  have  a  literacy 
test  —  usually  the  ability  to  read  the  Constitution,  and 
in  some  the  ability  to  write  one's  name.  None  of  these 
limitations,  except  those  in  the  Philippines,  are  to  be 
taken  seriously.  All  the  states  have  the  necessary  pro- 
visions concerning  naturalization,  residence,  and  regis- 
tration. In  tlie  South  the  state  of  affairs  is  entirely 
different,  for  literacy  and  property  qualifications  are 
not  only  widespread  but  they  are  enforced.  They 
were  enacted  and  are  administered  for  the  express  pur- 
pose of  disfranchising  the  negroes,  while  yet  abiding 
by  the  letter  of  the  Fifteenth  Amendment,  and  at  the 
same  time  not  excluding  whites.  No  better  illustra- 
tion could  be  found  of  the  futility  of  attempting  im- 
portant legislation  ahead  of,  and  in  opposition  to, 
strong  public  sentiment  than  the  way  the  attempt  of 
the  North  to  force  negro  suffrage  on  the  South  has 
lieen  frustrated  by  the  southern  whites.  As  long  as  the 
Federal  troops  were  kept  in  the  South  the  negro  voters 
were  voted  in  droves  by  the  northern  carpetbaggers 
and  southern  scalawags,  but  as  soon  as  the  military 
power  was  withdrawn  the  southern  whites  took  mat- 


MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE  1713 

ters  into  their  own  hands  and  by  fraud,  intimidation, 
and  violence  succeeded  in  driving  most  of  the  negroes 
permanently  from  the  polls.  About  1890  the  South 
began  to  be  dissatisfied  with  this  state  of  affairs  and 
since  then  one  southern  state  after  another  has  suc- 
ceeded in  putting  very  effective  legal  barriers  in  the 
way  of  negroes  voting.  Debarred  by  the  Fifteenth 
Amendment  from  directly  imposing  race  qualifications, 
the  southern  whites  have  accomplished  the  same  end 
by  property  and  educational  qualifications  and  by  the 
so-called  "grandfather  clauses." 

Alabama  requires  the  ownership  of  forty  acres  of 
land,  or  $300  worth  of  taxable  property  (or  that  the 
voter  be  the  husband  of  the  owner  of  such  property), 
or  the  ability  to  read  the  Constitution  in  English; 
Georgia,  forty  acres  or  $500  worth  of  property, 
or  the  ability  to  read  and  write  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  or  of  Georgia;  and  Louisiana, 
South  Carolina,  and  Virginia,  similar  tests ;  Mississippi 
and  North  Carolina  have  only  the  literary  test.  All 
the  southern  states  require  the  payment  of  poll  taxes, 
and  some  the  payment  of  all  taxes,  as  a  qualification 
for  voting.  The  property  test  is  always  an  alternative 
to  the  educational  test,  so  that  a  man  who  cannot  get 
in  under  one,  may  do  so  under  the  other.  Neither  the 
property,  nor  taxpaying,  nor  educational  qualifications 
can  be  objected  to  on  constitutional  grounds  because 
they  apply  to  whites  as  well  as  to  blacks.  Nevertheless 
rt  is  evident  that  they  disfranchise  many  more  negroes 


1714  MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE 

than  whites.  The  South  had  no  intention  of  improv- 
ing the  caHbre  of  the  electorate  by  excluding  illiterate 
whites.  Its  design  was,  and  is,  to  include  as  many 
whites,  and  to  exclude  as  many  blacks,  as  possible.  To 
this  end  the  grandfather  clause  was  invented.  The 
principle  of  the  grandfather  clause  is  simple;  it  pro- 
vides an  exception  to  the  application  of  the  literacy 
and  property  tests.  One  who  is  not  able  to  satisfy 
either  of  these  tests  may,  nevertheless,  continue  to  be 
a  voter  for  life  if  he  was  a  voter  in  1867,  or  is  an  old 
soldier,  or  a  lineal  descendant  of  such  voter  or  soldier, 
provided  he  registers  before  a  certain  date  provided  for 
by  law.  (Stephenson,  "Race  Distinctions  in  American 
Law,"  p.  305.)  Grandfather  clauses  have  been  en- 
acted in  Alabama,  Georgia,  Louisiana,  South  Carolina, 
and  Virginia,  No  negroes  had  the  vote  in  the  South 
in  1867,  and  comparatively  few  of  them  were  soldiers. 
It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  this  device  lets  in  the  illit- 
erate whites  and  excludes  the  negroes;  but  it  is  not 
technically  a  race  distinction. 

Five  southern  states  also  have  so-called  "character 
and  understanding  clauses,"  which  still  further  re- 
duce the  likelihood  of  a  negro  getting  a  chance  to 
vote.  These  clauses  are  also  designed  to  provide  ex- 
ceptions to  the  property  tests.  In  Mississippi  the  voter 
may  demonstrate  his  ability  to  understand  the  state 
constitution  when  read  to  him.  In  Georgia  he  must  un- 
derstand "the  duties  of  a  citizen  in  a  republican  form 
of  government."     Since  the  election  authorities  are  in- 


MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE  1715 

variably  white  men,  it  is  not  difficult  to  see  what  an 
effective  means  of  discriminating  against  the  negro 
these  tests  afford. 

How  many  negroes  are  actually  kept  from  the  polls 
by  these  various  laws  it  is  hard  to  say.  Stephenson 
cites  a  typical  Mississippi  county  with  a  population  of 
11,700  negroes,  only  thirty  of  whom  were  registered 
voters.  Another  county  in  North  Carolina,  with  a 
population  of  6,700  negroes  is  said  never  to  have  had 
a  negro  vote  cast.  In  Louisiana  the  number  of  negro 
votes  was  reduced  from  130,000  to  5,300.  The  col- 
ored electors  number  not  more  than  10  per  cent  of  the 
adult  males.*  Thousands  of  negroes  are  kept  away 
from  the  poles  by  latent  fear  and  desire  not  to  come 
into  conflict  with  white  sentiment.  The  writer  knows 
a  number  of  educated  southern  negroes  who  have  never 
tried  to  vote  for  this  reason.  The  simple  fact  is  that 
politics  plays  very  little  part  in  the  mental  life  of  the 
southern  negro.  One  principal  of  a  large  negro  indus- 
trial school — a  prominent  graduate  of  Tuskegee — when 
asked  the  name  of  the  governor  of  his  state  was  obliged 
to  say  that  he  could  not  remember. 

We  have  seen  that  the  extension  of  the  suffrage  in 
America  was  due  to  the  conditions  of  American  life 
and  to  the  theory  of  natural  rights  —  a  theory  ardently 
applied  to  political  life  in  opposition  to  the  older  doc- 
trine of  privilege  and  class  which  was  the  theoretical 

*  Bryce,    "  The  American    Commonwealth,"    Rev.    ed.,    II,    pp. 
545-546. 


I7i6  MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE 

basis  of  the  old  limited  suffrage.     We  may  profitably 
examine  these  two  theories  briefl3^ 

The  natural  rights  theory  holds  that  suffrage  is  an 
inherent  right  of  man,  like  the  right  to  life,  liberty, 
and  the  pursuit  of  happiness.  As  taxation  without 
representation  is  tyranny,  so  all  just  government  is 
based  upon  the  consent  of  the  governed.  This  formal 
theory  of  suffrage  as  an  absolute  right  has  been  given 
up,  because  suffrage  is  legally  the  gift  of  the  state 
and  it  is  impossible  to  support  the  theory  by  any  logic 
that  will  stand  criticism.  It  has  had  to  go  by  the  board 
along  with  the  whole  philosophy  of  a  "state  of  na- 
ture," "natural  law,"  and  "natural"  right,  long  since 
discarded.  The  argument  for  universal  suffrage  is 
now  based  on  grounds  of  duty  and  expediency  and  of 
social  justice,  rather  than  on  the  idea  of  either 
"  natural "  or  " divine  "  law;  but  the  feeling  that  some- 
how we  are  cheated  if  we  do  not  have  universal 
suffrage  will  doubtless  continue  to  exist  as  long  as  per- 
sonality is  not  repressed  by  tyranny,  political  or  social ; 
for  no  individual  likes  to  admit  that  he  is  incapable 
of  a  voice  in  determining  the  conditions  under  which 
he  must  live.  It  is  a  good  thing  that  such  is  the  case; 
otherwise  we  should  too  easily  sink  into  lethargic 
submission  to  stale  inefficiency  and  flat  tyranny  in  gov- 
ernment. Reason  may  support  any  limitation  on 
suffrage  which  it  is  in  the  power  of  normal  individuals 
to  remove,  but  any  permanent  qualification  like  sex  or 
race  cannot  but  in   the  long  run  be  degrading  both 


MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE  1717 

to  the  favored  and  to  the  excluded  classes.  That  the 
natural  rights  theory  has  been  abandoned  is  due  not 
only  to  the  impossibility  of  defending  it  by  any  formal 
logic,  but  also  to  the  facts  that  manhood  suffrage  is 
an  accomplished  fact,  and  that  political  science — a  judg- 
ment of  governments  by  their  observed  results  and 
needs  —  has  taken  the  place  of  a  priori  political  phil- 
osophy. 

The  second  theory  —  that  suffrage  is  a  privilege  — 
is  as  old  as  representative  government.  In  its  more 
brutal  beginnings  it  simply  expresses  the  belief  of  the 
ruling  classes  that  the  masses  are  unworthy  of  atten- 
tion except  as  soldiers  and  a  source  of  taxes  and  that 
government  and  wealth,  rank,  and  military  power 
should  go  hand  in  hand.  In  its  more  refined  form  the 
theory  holds  that  all  government  is  a  matter  of  ex- 
pediency, that  it  is  inexpedient  to  grant  suffrage  to  all 
adults  —  even  all  adult  men  —  because  that  would 
admit  classes  to  the  franchise  who,  through  ignorance 
or  vice,  would  not  use  it  for  the  public  welfare.  The 
privilege  theory  assumes  unconsciously  that  society  is 
sharply  divided  into  classes  and  that  the  privileged 
classes  —  those  with  wealth,  education,  or  social  posi- 
tion—  are  more  devoted  in  spirit  and  in  deed  to  the 
public  welfare  than  are  the  so-called  "lower"  classes. 
It  attributes  a  benevolence  and  beneficence  to  the  privi- 
leged classes  which  they  have  not  shown  themselves 
always  to  possess. 

The  adherents  to  this  theory  argue  that  people  with- 


I7i8  MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE 

out  property  should  not  be  allowed  to  vote,  especially 
in  cities,  because  they  will  vote  away  the  taxes  paid 
by  other  people;  and  only  taxpayers  should  determine 
the  disposition  of  public  funds.  This  argument  over- 
looks both  the  fact  that  non-taxpayers  may  have  just 
as  good  judgment  on  public  issues  involving  the  ex- 
penditure of  money  as  taxpayers,  and  that  most  people 
are  taxpayers  indirectly,  if  not  directly,  since  a  large 
part  of  the  burden  of  taxation  is  shifted  to  the  con- 
sumers of  taxed  goods  and  the  occupants  of  taxed 
dwelling  houses.  It  is  argued  also  that  only  the  edu- 
cated should  really  participate  in  government,  since 
they  are  the  only  ones  who  know  enough.  As  well 
argue  that  only  church-members  have  religion.  Very 
many  of  the  matters  with  which  government  has  to 
deal  are  matters  upon  which  intelligence  can  be  had 
only  through  experience ;  many  an  educated  man  today 
is  a  poorer  citizen  than  many  a  laborer.  It  is  not  un- 
likely that  to  turn  government  over  to  an  aristocracy 
of  property  and  education  would  be  disastrous  to  pub- 
lic welfare.  While  both  these  classes  think  they  would 
be  unselfish  and  broad-minded  in  the  administration 
of  public  affairs,  experience  shows  that  to  no  class  do 
the  interests  of  other  classes  or  of  society  in  general 
loom  anything  like  so  large  as  its  own  immediate  inter- 
ests. "The  world  has  tried  the  aristocratic  idea  for 
thousands  of  years,"  says  a  recent  writer,  "  and  worked 
out  a  demonstration  that  in  folly,  in  inhumanity,  in 
tyrannous  spirit,  in  avarice  and  selfishness,  in  intellectual 


MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE  1719 

and  moral  childishness,  the  rule  of  the  '  better '  people 
has  been  on  the  whole  as  conspicuous  a  disappointment, 
at  least,  as  anything  to  be  feared  under  the  name  of 
democracy."  * 

Every  democratic  movement  inevitably  calls  out  and 
crystallizes  the  interests  whose  special  privileges  are 
jeopardized  by  it.  So  it  is  at  the  present  time  when 
a  world-wide  movement  for  political  and  industrial 
democracy  is  in  progress.  Beaten  back  from  every 
other  position,  the  opponents  of  the  extension  of  the 
franchise  to  women,  and  in  other  countries  to  the  men 
not  yet  enfranchised,  fall  back  upon  the  doctrine  of 
limited  suffrage  as  the  only  "safe"  system.  Their 
cry  is  that  the  suffrage  is  already  much  too  wide  and 
that  the  true  line  of  reform  lies  in  educational  and 
property  tests. 

In  support  of  this  view,  the  failure  of  manhood 
suffrage  is  alleged.  Unfortunately  Jeffersonian  De- 
mocracy, which  introduced  the  idea  of  popular  govern- 
ment into  America,  was  followed  by  Jacksonian  De- 
mocracy, which,  with  good  motives  perhaps,  prosti- 
tuted popular  government  to  local,  selfish,  and  party 
ends.  The  misapplication  of  the  rights  of  man  gave 
us  the  spoils  system,  rotation  in  office,  and  the  disas- 
trous notion  that  anybody  is  fit  to  hold  public  office,  if 
he  can  get  it.  Out  of  Jacksonian  influence  and  out  of 
the  blind  and  dogged  complacence  of  Americans  in 
the  belief  that  theirs  was  the  one  country  with  good 

*Cf.  Dole,  "The  Spirit  of  Democracy,"  p.  in. 


I720  MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE 

government,  and  their  consequent  failure  to  note  how 
our  governmental  machinery  was  falling  behind  our 
complex  needs,  came  the  semi-valid  basis  for  the  argu- 
ment that  manhood  suffrage  has  been  a  failure.  The 
dire  inefficiency  of  American  city  government,  the  cor- 
ruption of  city  councils  and  state  legislatures,  the  some- 
times seemingly  hopeless  subserviency  of  Congress  to 
the  large  financial  interests,  the  ubiquity  of  the  politi- 
cal boss,  of  machine  rule,  and  bipartisan  alliances,  all 
tending  to  give  the  voter  the  semblance  of  power  while 
the  substance  remains  in  the  hands  of  the  professional 
(and  usually  corrupt)  politicians  —  all  this  is  brought 
forward  as  proof  that  male  democracy  in  America  is 
a  failure,  and  that  a  full  democracy,  including  women 
as  well  as  men,  will  only  make  things  worse. 

On  the  face  of  things,  this  argument  has  much 
cogency.  American  city  government  is  far  less  effi- 
cient and  honest  than  the  municipal  governments  of 
England,  France,  or  Germany,  Moreover,  the  wide- 
spread use  of  money  for  corrupt  purposes,  until  re- 
cently without  let  or  hindrance  by  law,  has  had  no 
parallel  in  Western  Europe  for  many  years.  But  it 
may  be  doubted  whether  state  legislatures  and  Con- 
gress have  been  more  dominated  by  the  special  inter- 
ests (trusts,  railroads,  etc.)  than  have  the  European 
parliaments  by  the  landed  proprietors  and  the  big  man- 
ufacturing interests  there,  under  a  system  of  limited 
suffrage. 

Moreover,  before  we  bring  too  sweeping  a  verdict 


MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE  1721 

against  American  manhood  suffrage,  we  should 
examine  fairly  the  conditions  under  which  it  has  had 
to  work,  the  effects  of  American  self-complacency  in 
matters  politic,  and  the  probability  that  the  American 
people  are  just  now  awakening  to  the  fact  that  two 
things  are  necessary  to  the  proper  working  of  any  form 
of  republican  government  —  namely,  a  political  machin- 
ery that  will  render  representatives  really  representa- 
tive of  public  opinion,  and  an  adequately  alert  public 
opinion  led  by  able,  honest,  broad-minded,  and  informed 
men  and  women. 

The  central  cause  of  the  failure  of  American  democ- 
racy to  bring  the  perfect  results  hoped  for  has  been 
the  extreme  rapidity  with  which  we  have  developed  a 
very  intricate  and  complex  economic  and  industrial 
state.  Similar  rapid  transformation  in  some  particulars 
has  taken  place  in  England  and  Germany,  but  those 
countries  have  had  many  conditions  conducive  to  sta- 
bility and  orderly  growth  which  we  have  lacked,  as 
well  as  some  obstacles  to  progress  which  have  not 
bothered  us.  Manhood  suffrage  was  established  in 
America  when  all  our  life  —  economic,  moral,  politi- 
cal —  was  comparatively  simple,  when  agriculture  was 
the  one  great  industry,  when  great  corporations,  con- 
centrated control  of  money  and  credit,  sinister  rail- 
road influence,  and  fabulous  extremes  of  riches  and 
poverty  were  non-existent,  when  social  life  was  sim- 
ple, when  it  did  not  require  a  long  line  of  court  deci- 
sions to  distinguish  nicely  between  what  is  just  legally 


1722  MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE 

permissible  and  what  is  not,  in  the  conduct  of  business, 
and  when  the  tasks  of  local  and  state  government  were 
comparatively  simple  and  unchanging,  so  that  any  set 
of  honest  officials  could  perform  them  adequately.  In 
the  30's  and  40's  when  there  were  no  intricate  ques- 
tions of  public  utility  franchises,  of  taxation  of  cor- 
porations, incomes  and  inheritances,  of  regulating  in- 
terstate commerce,  conserving  natural  resources,  or  se- 
curing peace  and  justice  between  great  employing  cor- 
porations and  millions  of  organized  and  unorganized 
working  men,  women,  and  children,  government  was 
relatively  an  unimportant  matter.  The  Jacksonian 
regime  proclaimed  the  spoils  to  the  victors  and  set  in 
motion  the  rotation  in  office  which  on  the  one  hand  pre- 
vented the  development  of  an  ossified  bureaucracy,  and 
on  the  other  kept  the  best  men  out  of  office,  intensi- 
fied partisanship,  encouraged  corruption,  and  prevented 
the  development  of  skill  in  American  governmental  of- 
fices; but  so  long  as  the  country  consisted  largely  of 
simple  farming  communities,  so  long  as  the  forms  of 
wealth  and  of  industrial  organization  were  not  diverse, 
and  massed  capital  had  not  developed  to  corrupt  legis- 
latures and  city  councils  and  exploit  the  land  and  the 
people,  the  Jacksonian  ideas  did  little  harm.  Just  as 
soon,  however,  as  these  industrial  developments  did 
take  place  on  a  large  scale  —  beginning  soon  after  the 
Civil  War  —  the  results  were  bound  to  be  disastrous, 
because  the  people  were  long  in  awakening  to  the  fact 
that  they  had  the  form  of  popular  government  without 


MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE  1723 

its  substance,  and  because  the  greater  the  necessity  for 
the  government  to  interfere  with  private  and  corporate 
business,  to  protect  the  people,  the  greater  the  tendency 
for  the  special  interests  to  corrupt  the  agents  of  the 
people  and  get  them  to  betray  their  trust.  This  is  the 
origin  of  such  powerful  alliances  between  big  business 
and  corrupt  political  rings  as  have  disgraced  time  and 
again  the  great  commonwealths  of  New  York,  Penn- 
sylvania, Ohio,  Illinois,  California,  and  little  states  like 
Rhode  Island,  Delaware,  New  Jersey,  and  Maryland. 
The  system  of  rotation  in  office  made  politics  a  sort  of 
game  for  high  stakes,  and  the  patronage  system  pros- 
tituted politics  from  the  service  of  the  state  to  the 
service  of  party,  to  secure  jobs  for  party  workers. 
So  politics  becomes  a  profession  —  a  degraded  one  — 
with  its  tricks  of  the  trade,  its  recognized  rules,  its  un- 
scrupulous intrigue,  and  a  lack  of  real  and  intelligent 
devotion  to  the  best  interests  of  community,  state,  and 
nation.* 

Down  to  the  late  8o's,  an  independent  voter  was 
practically  unheard  of,  and  scratching  a  party  ticket 
was  for  many  years  after  that  a  heinous  offense  in  the 
eyes  of  "  practical  "  politicians.  Every  effort  was  made 
to  intensify  party  loyalty  and  there  are  still  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  men  who  are  voting  straight  party 
tickets  because  this  old  party  discipline  has  become  an 

*  Perhaps  the  best  exposition  of  the  methods  of  the  poHtical 
boss  is  Henry  Champernowne's  (pseudonym)  "  The  Boss," 
a  parody  on  MachiavelU's  "  The  Prince" 


1724  MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE 

ingrained  habit,  and  no  good  thing  can,  for  them,  come 
out  of  the  opposition  party. 

Meanwhile,  to  this  slavish  partisanship,  so  skih  fully 
fostered  by  the  machine  politician,  must  be  added  a 
nomination  machinery  which  gradually  broke  down  and 
virtually  threw  the  power  of  choice,  from  president  to 
justice  of  the  peace,  into  the  hands  of  the  inner  party 
rings.  One  way  to  judge  any  form  of  government  is 
to  observe  the  kind  of  men  it  puts  in  office.  Jefferson 
said,  "  There  is  a  natural  aristocracy  founded  on  talent 
and  virtue  which  seems  destined  to  govern  all  soci- 
eties and  all  political  forms,  and  the  best  government 
is  that  which  provides  most  efficiently  for  the  purity 
of  the  choosing  of  these  natural  aristocracies  and  their 
introduction  into  government."  *  American  political 
democracy  has  signally  failed  to  do  this,  and  the  rea- 
sons for  its  failure  lie,  partly  at  least,  in  the  inadequacy 
of  the  nominating  machinery.  For  it  makes  no  differ- 
ence what  are  the  safeguards  of  secret  ballot,  registra- 
tion, and  public  information  with  regard  to  the  quali- 
fications of  nominated  candidates,  if  the  voter  has  little 
or  no  intelligent  share  in  saying  who  shall  be  the  can- 
didates in  the  first  place. 

Party  government  without  some  initial  means  of 
naming  party  candidates  would  be  impossible.  The 
time-honored  method  in  this  country,  until  within  very 
recent  years,  since  the  direct  primary  election  has 
largely  superseded  it,  was  the  party  caucus.    Originally 

*  Works,    IX,    p.    425. 


^  ,^'^  ^-U''^>"'. 


MRS.  LUCY   STONE 
Founder  in   1870  of  "The  Womtm's  Journal" 


MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE  1727 

the  caucus  was  a  secret  meeting  of  the  leading  men  of 
the  party  in  the  locality.  By  the  time  of  the  Revolu- 
tion it  was  pretty  well  established  and  was  losing  its 
secret  character  and  becoming  a  miniature  town  meet- 
ing. In  New  England,  except  in  the  cities,  the  caucus 
retained  its  original  town-meeting  character  to  our 
time,  but  elsewhere  it  became  "  a  mere  polling  place  for 
the  election  of  delegates  to  the  various  conventions  and 
of  members  of  the  local  party  committees,  there  being 
no  opportunity  whatever  for  any  discussion  of  the 
merits  of  the  various  candidates."  The  inevitable  re- 
sult was  that  the  real  work  of  nomination  "  fell  either 
into  the  hands  of  'parlor  caucuses'  or  of  political  clubs 
and  committees  —  the  power  of  the  individual  voter 
being  restricted  to  the  choice  between  candidates  agreed 
upon  at  such  preliminary  secret  conferences  or  named 
by  such  organizations."*  From  about  1832  on  there 
was  for  each  party  an  established  system  of  local  cau- 
cuses, and  county,  state,  and  national  conventions.  Del- 
egates to  the  county  conventions  were  chosen  by  the 
local  caucus,  and  so  on.  Now,  so  long  as  the  com- 
munity was  industrially  undeveloped  and  there  was  a 
fair  amount  of  social  equality  and  all  the  members  of 
the  party  locally  were  acquaintances,  the  caucus  or  "  pri- 
mary" could  work  well  —  but  when  increase  of  popula- 
tion brought  with  it  the  loss  of  that  personal  acquaint- 
ance, when  different  nationalities  came  in  to  intensify 

*  Dallinger,   "  Nominations  for  Elective   Office   in   the    United 
States,"  p.  12. 


1728  MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE 

clannish  prejudices,  when  inequahty  of  weahh  and 
social  position  and  "pressure  of  business"  gave  excuse 
for  the  more  fastidious  "gentlemen"  to  avoid  contact 
with  rough  men  at  these  informal  meetings,  the  lime 
was  ripe  for  the  advent  of  the  wire  pullers  and  the 
bosses.  And  they  came.  Slates  were  fixed  up  before- 
hand and  jammed  through  by  those  who  had  direct 
personal  interest  in  the  election.  Thus  from  the  local 
primary  to  the  great  national  conventions  the  selection 
of  candidates  fell  into  the  hands  of  cliques  and  rings; 
the  political-ly  most  subservient  and  "available"  man 
was  made  the  party's  candidate,  and  the  average  voter 
accepted  the  results  with  equanimity,  l^ecause  he  had 
always  had  his  vanity  tickled  by  the  idea  that  he  was 
"a  sovereign,"  had  been  bred  to  think  that  all  the  good 
men  were  in  his  party  and  all  the  bad  in  the  opposition. 
The  informed  voter  had  nothing  to  do  but  stay  away 
from  the  polls  or  hold  his  nose  and  vote  in  disgust 
for  the  least  corrupt  and  unfit  candidate  the  bosses 
deigned  to  put  on  the  tickets.  Occasionally  a  wave  of 
popular  reform  sentiment  would  sweep  over  the  com- 
munity and  the  1x)sses  would  temporarily  bow  before 
it  and  nominate  a  good  man  or  two,  "who,  after 
election,  would  find  themselves  helpless  to  accomphsh 
anything  for  good  government.  Thus,  because  the 
nominating  system  had  its  origin  among  those  who  had 
most  interest  in  elections  and  could  work  only  when 
someone  took  the  lead,  and  because  the  bulk  of  the 
"  substantial  citizens  "  were  too  busily  engaged  in  mak- 


MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE  1729 

ing  money  to  bother  about  politics,  politics  inevitably 
became  corrupt  and  boss-ridden ;  and  that  in  the  face 
<jf  social  and  economic  conditions  which  more  than  ever 
before  demanded  honesty,  efficiency,  adaptability,  skill, 
and  devotion  to  public  welfare  on  the  part  of  all  pub- 
lic office-holders.  On  the  one  hand  were  the  bosses 
and  their  henchmen,  in  politics  for  spoils;  on  the  other 
the  masses  of  voters,  more  or  less  apathetic,  and  the 
industrial  powers  and  financial  interests  constantly 
seeking  by  the  shortest  route  to  get  valuable  conces- 
sions from  city  councils,  legislatures,  and  Congress. 
The  result  was  inevitable,  followed  quickly  and  has 
lasted  till  the  present  moment  —  corruption,  deep- 
seated,  widespread,  and  persistent.  For  if  the  bosses 
controlled  nominations,  the  "  interests  "  controlled  the 
bosses.  The  course  of  development  is  graphically 
stated  by  Professor  E.  A.  Ross  :  "  The  transformation 
of  popular  government  into  government  by  special  in- 
terests presents  four  stages  :  First,  ordinary  '  political ' 
legislators  or  officials  are  influenced  or  bought  for  spe- 
cific purposes.  This  is  the  era  of  lobby  and  bribe. 
Second,  scenting  'easy  money'  vultures  work  their  way 
into  public  life,  form  a  'combine'  and  sell  legislation 
for  what  they  can  get.  This  is  the  stage  of  boodle. 
Third,  financed  by  the  Interests  the  party  machines 
send  up  '  safe '  men  who  will  vote  as  they  are  told  on 
bills  afifecting  corporations.  These  Hessians,  however, 
improve  their  opportunities  to  make  something  for 
themselves,  and  their  unbridled  greed  brings  scandal  on 


I730  MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE 

the  regime.  This  is  the  epoch  of  blackmail  and  petty 
graft.  Fourth,  the  Interests,  falling  gradually  into 
a  system,  cease  to  be  customers  of  the  bosses.  They 
own  them  and  are  able  to  grow  their  own  legislatures. 
This  brings  into  politics  the  more  respectable  type  that 
scorns  miscellaneous  graft  and  takes  his  reward  in 
business  favors  or  professional  connections.  The  big 
Interests  will  even  sacrifice  the  vice  Interests  by  clap- 
ping 'the  lid'  on  the  saloon  and  dive  and  race  track. 
This  decent  conduct  of  public  affairs,  free  from  the 
odium  of  grafting  and  blackmail,  is  known  as  'good 
government'  and  is  the  fine  flower  of  perfected  com- 
mercial oligarchy,"* 

To  these  basic  causes  for  the  seeming  failure  of  man- 
hood suffrage  —  preoccupation  with  economic  affairs 
and  a  nominating  system  that  plays  into  the  hands  of 
the  gamesters  and  big  interests  —  add  the  influx  of 
European  immigrants,  swelling  the  electorate  by  an 
enormous  number  of  men  without  political  experience, 
untutored  in  American  ideals,  greedy  for  material  gain, 
and  easy  prey  to  calculating  and  corrupting  politicians; 
add,  too,  the  peculiarities  of  our  American  constitu- 
tional system  which  tend  to  make  government  slow  to 
respond  to  changes  in  public  opinion,  which  tend  to  rob 
the  majority  of  ability  to  carry  out  its  plans  and  pur- 
poses, the  power  of  the  courts  to  nullify  desirable  as 
well  as  undesirable  legislation,  the  control  of  the  Senate 
by  the  Interests,  the  cumbersome  committee  system  in 

*"  Independent,"  July,  1906,  p.   125. 


MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE  1731 

the  House,  the  late  meeting  of  the  new  Congress  after 
a  change  of  administration;  in  state  legislatures,  the 
election  of  untrained  men  to  legislative  tasks,  and  the 
filling  of  state  and  local  administrative  offices  by  party 
henchmen;  and  in  municipalities,  until  recently,  the 
hampering  influence  of  a  form  of  government  borrowed 
from  state  and  federal  constitutions  and  eminently  un- 
suited  to  local  needs,  the  lack  of  hoilie  rule,  and  the 
obstructive  tactics  of  state  legislatures:  —  add  all  these 
conditions  and  the  only  ground  on  which  manhood 
suffrage  can  be  said  to  have  been  something  of  a  fail- 
ure is  that  it  failed,  under  the  stress  of  most  complex 
and  rapidly  changing  conditions,  to  provide  an  ade- 
quate machinery  for  real  representative  government. 
That  it  did  fail  in  that  is  not  to  be  v^ondered  at  when 
all  the  conditions  are  taken  into  account,  and  especially 
w^hen  we  remember  how  much  more  rapid  industrial 
development  has  been  in  this  country  in  the  past  fifty 
years  than  it  is  likely  to  be  in  the  future,  and  that  it  has 
taken  up  a  disproportionate  amount  of  attention  and 
made  the  securing  of  a  government  machinery  adequate 
to  handle  ever  new  and  ever  changing  conditions  ex- 
tremely difficult.  We  should  remember  that  since  1870 
this  country  has  gone  through  an  economic  revolution 
as  sweeping  in  the  effects  as  the  industrial  revolution  in 
England  within  the  i8th  century.  We  should  not  de- 
mand that  democracy,  hitherto  untried  in  all  the  world's 
history,  should  in  the  19th  century  alone  have  worked 
out  a  perfectly  flexible,  perfectly  adaptable,  perfectly 


1732  MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE 

functionizing    machinery    and    method.      That    would 
simply  be  asking  the  superhuman. 

Many  critics  of  American  democracy  justly  hold  that 
no  political  machinery,  however  carefully  devised  to  ex- 
clude the  influence  of  the  bosses  and  money  power,  will 
produce  good  government  unless  the  electorate  be  alive, 
alert,  intelligent,  informed,  and  willing  to  devote 
time  to  attending  primaries  and  elections,  and  unless 
the  more  capable  members  of  the  community  can  be 
got  to  run  for  ofiice.  This  is  true,  but  it  is  foolish  on 
the  other  hand,  to  demand  of  democracy  that  it  produce 
good  government  through  forms  of  political  procedure 
which  palpably  play  directly  into  the  hands  of  big  busi- 
ness, vested  interests,  intrenched  vice,  and  political  sub- 
serviency. Aside  from  the  prosecution  of  a  notorious 
crew  of  political  pirates  here  and  there  (like  the  Tweed 
ring  in  New  York  in  the  70's,  and  the  council  ring  in 
St.  Louis  in  the  90's)  the  American  people  on  the 
whole  were  for  many  years  both  indifferent  and  help- 
less before  widespread  legislative  corruption  and  ad- 
ministrative inefficiency.  Two  reforms  of  great  value 
were,  however,  instituted  during  the  8o's  and  early 
90's  —  the  establishment  of  the  Australian  ballot  sys- 
tem and  of  civil  service  reform.  The  essentials  of  the 
Australian  ballot  system  are  (i)  officially  printed  bal- 
lots and  (2)  a  procedure  in  voting  which  prevents 
anyone  from  knowing  how  any  voter  has  voted  un- 
less he  himself  chooses  to  tell.  The  system  was  intro- 
duced in  Australia  in  1856  and  in  Canada  shortly  after- 


MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE  1733 

ward.  It  was  given  a  trial  in  certain  towns  in  England 
in  1869  and  1872  and,  soon  after,  adopted  in  all  Par- 
liament elections.  Agitation  for  it  did  not  begin  in  the 
United  States  until  1885.  It  was  introduced  in  Massa- 
chusetts in  1888,  in  Indiana  in  1889,  and  proved  so 
successful  in  reducing  intimidation  and  open  corruption 
that  by  1895  it  had  spread  to  practically  all  the  states. 
Procedure  under  it  is  by  no  means  uniform,  as  some 
states  print  the  names  of  all  candidates  (arranged 
variously),  on  one  large  "blanket"  ballot,  while  others 
print  a  separate  ballot  for  each  party.  The  form  of  the 
ballot  is  a  very  important  detail,  since  it  goes  far  toward 
inducing  or  discouraging  independent  voting  ("scratch- 
ing the  ticket").* 

It  made  little  difference,  however,  now  secret  the 
ballot  was  when,  oij  the  one  hand,  the  machine  politi- 
cians did  all  the  nominating,  and  on  the  other,  all 
administrative  officers,  from  the  president's  cabinet 
down  to  the  porter  in  the  county  courthouse,  w^ere  ap- 
pointed to  office  not  on  a  basis  of  fitness  but  purely  for 
political  services  to  the  party  coming  into  power.  The 
situation  having  become  intolerable,  Congress  in  1883 
created  the  Civil  Service  Commission  and  paved  the 
way  for  the  merit  system  in  place  of  the  old  system  of 
spoils  and  patronage.  Much  remains  to  be  done,  espe- 
cially in  placing  the  higher  federal  offices  under  civil 
service  rules.     About  9,000  of  these  officials  are  now 

*  See  C.  L.  Jones,  Readings  on  "Parties  and  Elections  in  the 
United  States/'  Ch.  8. 


1734  MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE 

subject  to  presidential  appointment  (the  senate  con- 
firming). Much  remains  to  be  done  in  extending 
civil  service  in  state  and  city  government;  but  it  now 
seems  certain  that  public  opinion  has  definitely  awak- 
ened to  the  iniquity  and  extravagance  of  the  spoils 
system  and  the  near  future  will  see  the  end  of  the  old 
ideas  that  anyone  can  fill  a  public  office  and  that  public 
office  should  be  the  reward  for  party  service.  Until 
that  time  does  come,  one  indispensable  condition  to  the 
success  of  popular  government  will  be  lacking.  Jeffer- 
sonian  and  not  Jacksonian  principles  express  true 
democracy. 

The  turning  point  in  the  evolution  of  Amercan  polit- 
ical ideas  may  be  said  to  have  coincided  with  the  pub- 
lication of  James  Bryce's  "American  Commonwealth," 
in  1888.  Not  till  someone  had  shown  us  our  political 
institutions  with  the  perspective  and  disinterested  good 
will  of  an  acute  outside  observer  of  judicial  mind  and 
philosophical  power,  could  we  be  jarred  out  of  our 
self-complacency  and  begin  to  give  up  the  old  glittering 
claptrap  of  the  stump  patriot  and  the  noise  and  blare 
of  torch-light  campaign  pageantry,  for  a  painstaking 
scientific  study  of  our  government. 

Even  this  brief  discussion  of  manhood  suffrage 
would  be  incomplete  without  some  reference  to  the  new 
democratic  machinery  of  today,  by  which  it  is  reason- 
ably hoped  that  our  government  will  become  a  respon- 
sive and  effective  representative  democracy  in  reality 
as  well  as  in  name.     We  are  at  the  present  time  going 


MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE  1735 

through  a  poHtical  revolution.  We  are  trying  to  se- 
cure, actually,  the  only  just  basis  of  government  —  the 
consent  of  the  governed.  We  are  trying  to  secure  the 
real  representation  of  all  classes,  including  women ;  to 
obtain  intelligence  and  alertness  in  the  electorate ;  to 
centralize  administrative  responsibility;  and  to  make 
all  public  officials  more  directly  responsible  to  intelli- 
gent public  opinion,  with  power  to  enforce  its  desires. 
j\Iore  and  more  the  tendency  is  manifest,  too,  to  supple- 
ment representation  by  direct  legislation.  The  whole 
complex  movement  of  political  reform  today,  includ- 
ing as  it  does  the  initiative  and  referendum,  the  recall 
of  public  officials,  possibly  even  of  judges  or  of  judicial 
decisions,  the  direct  election  of  United  States  senators; 
direct  primaries,  presidential  preference  primaries,  cor- 
rupt practices  acts;  home  rule,  commission  government, 
etc.,  for  cities;  publication  and  limitation  of  campaign 
contributions  and  expenditures,  short  ballots,  publicity 
pamphlets,  legislative  reference  libraries,  anti-lobbying 
laws,  extension  of  civil  service  rules,  and  the  increas- 
ing tendency  to  put  men  of  experience  and  suitable  ad- 
ministrative ability  into  responsible  public  offices  —  this 
whole  set  of  reforms  and  tendencies  is  simply  the  whole- 
hearted effort  of  an  awakened  American  public  to  se- 
cure efficient  democracy.  The  new  machinery  and 
ideals  may  be  destined  to  disappoint  their  more  ardent 
advocates,  but  they  have  already  accomplished  enough 
of  a  revolution  for  the  good  to  throw  the  burden  of 
proof  upon  their  opponents.     Not  the  least  significant 


1736  MANHOOD  SUFFRAGE 

characteristic  of  the  new  democracy  is  its  purpose  to 
become  a  complete  democracy.  It  is  impossible,  indeed, 
to  predict  what  will  be  the  political  future  of  the  negro 
in  the  South,  but  there  seems  now  no  possibility  of 
reasonable  doubt  that  women  will  acquire,  within  the 
near  future,  full  political  rights  and  obligations  on  an 
equality  with  men.  The  future  efficiency  of  full  popu- 
lar government  thus  established  will  depend  on  the  de- 
gree to  which  the  people  refrain  from  increasing, 
through  unreasonable  extension  of  the  principle  of 
direct  legislation,  the  political  duties  of  citizens  beyond 
their  power  to  perform  well,  and  the  extent  to  which 
the  people  realize  the  increasingly  difficult  task  which 
modern  industrial  and  social  relations  must  necessarily 
entail,  and  the  energy  and  intelligence  with  which  they 
fit  themselves  to  perform  it,  by  a  properly  designed 
educational  system  and  a  properly  fostered,  and  prac- 
tical, large  idealism  of  efficient  citizenship. 

(See  Questions  for  Review  Page  1783.) 


PART  IV 

The  Present  Political  Status  of  Women  in  the 

United  States 

By  BERTHA  REMBAUGH 

SINGLE  article  which  attempts  to  treat  the  pres- 


A 


ent  poHtical  status  of  women  in  the  United  States 
is  from  the  nature  of  the  subject  in  danger  of  going 
to  one  of  two  opposite  extremes.  It  is  ahnost  bound 
to  be  either  sketchy,  anecdotal,  and  inadequate,  or  else 
to  be  a  dead  tabulation  of  disconnected  facts.  This  is 
because  there  is  no  political  status  of  women  in  the 
United  States;  there  are  forty-eight  statuses.  Each 
state  should  properly  be  the  subject  of  an  entire  dis- 
cussion, since  in  no  two,  excepting  the  suffrage  states, 
are  the  conditions  even  approximately  the  same.  It  is 
true,  however,  that  states  in  the  same  geographical 
section  show  some  similarities  in  their  laws  regarding 
the  political  position  of  women,  and  these  similarities 
will  be  pointed  out  as  far  as  possible  in  the  limited 
compass  of  this  paper. 

In  the  first  place  it  is  necessary  to  define  the  term 
"political  status,"  which  for  some  reason  seems  to  be 
commonly  misunderstood.     It  covers  a  limited  though 

1737 


1738       POLITICAL  STATUS  OF  WOMEN 

important  field ;  it  deals  with  men  and  women  in  their 
relation  to  the  government  as  contrasted,  for  instance, 
with  civil  status,  which  deals  with  men  and  women 
in  their  relation  to  each  other  as  individuals.  It  does 
not,  in  fact,  cover  even  the  whole  field  of  government 
in  its  relation  to  individual  men  and  women,  but  only 
the  part  in  which  the  individual  controls,  influences,  or 
himself  is  the  government.  It  does  not  concern,  for 
example,  any  part  of  the  great  province  of  the  crim- 
inal law,  where  the  government  reaches  out  and  re- 
strains or  punishes  the  individual.  The  term  covers 
merely  two  functions  of  an  individual  citizen,  his  con- 
trol of  the  government,  which  in  republican  countries 
is  the  suffrage,  and  his  identity  with  the  government, 
which  in  republican  countries  we  call  ofiice-holding. 

In  nearly  all  forms  of  government  political  rights 
have,  in  the  main,  been  dependent  upon  civil  rights, 
but  in  hardly  any  instance,  even  in  the  case  of  male 
citizens,  have  the  two  developed  along  parallel  lines. 
In  the  case  of  women  the  divergence  between  the  de- 
velopment of  the  two  forms  of  rights  or  privileges  is 
even  greater  than  in  the  case  of  men.  With  some  na- 
tions at  certain  periods  of  their  history  the  civil  rights 
^f__women  have  very  closely  approximated  those  oi 
men,  while  of  political  rights  the  same  women  had  few 
or  none.  In  some  places  the  reverse  has  been  true.  In 
the  ancient  nations  of  the  East,  for  instance,  woman 
stood  politically  equal  with  man  because  neither  of 
them  was  politically  far  removed  from  the  slave.    The 


POLITICAL  STATUS  OF  WOMEN        1739 

ordinary  male  citizen  had  no  control  over  and  was  not 
a  part  of  the  power  that  governed  him.  But  as  a  civil 
unit,  in  relation  to  his  property,  his  status  in  the  family, 
etc.,  the  man  was  infinitely  more  free  than  the  woman ; 
his  wife  and  daughter  were  substantially  part  of  his 
property.  In  Greece  women  were  still  worse  off,  at 
least  by  contrast,  since  the  men  of  the  nation  attained 
complete  political  rights  while  the  women,  except  in 
a  few  communities,  had  neither  civil,  social,  nor  polit- 
ical existence.  In  Rome,  coincidently  with  the  gradual 
break-down  of  the  strict  agnatic  family  power,  women 
became  civilly  and  socially  free  agents,  but  they  never 
attained  to  any  purely  political  rights.  It  must  be 
admitted,  however,  in  explanation,  that  at  the  time 
when  the  civil  rights  of  the  Roman  women  were  coming 
into  existence  the  political  rights  of  the  Roman  men 
were  disappearing,  and  the  empire  of  the  Caesars  was 
displacing  the  republic  of  Cato  the  Censor.  It  is  not 
surprising  that,  under  these  circumstances,  no  new 
political  rights  were  acquired  by  another  class. 

The  ancient  Germans,  as  can  be  seen  by  the  accounts 
of  Tacitus  and  other  writers,  gave  to  their  women  the 
highest  degree  of  both  civil  and  political  rights,  admit- 
ting them  as  an  integral  part  into  the  most  important 
and  solemn  councils  of  the  State.  The  Teutonic  tribes 
created  the  original  mold  for  most  of  our  political  and 
social  institutions  and  they  formed  the  nations,  from 
which  the  United  States  until  recently  obtained  nearly 
all  its  immigrants,  but  the  political  power  and  influence 


I740       POLITICAL  STATUS  OF  WOMEN 

of  the  ancient  German  women  have  not  come  down  to 
us.  This  was  because  the  growth  of  another  institu- 
tion which  superseded  the  tribal  organization  and  extin- 
guished the  power  of  the  individual  tribesman  as  well 
— the  feudal  system.  That  institution,  by  making  par- 
ticipation in  government  dependent  upon  the  holding 
of  property  in  land,  created  for  all  the  Middle  Ages  a 
situation  so  different  from  any  which  we  now  have 
that  it  is  almost  impossible  for  the  modern  mind  to 
comprehend  it,  but  we  at  least  know  that,  under  that 
system,  political  rights  in  our  sense  of  the  term  were 
not  dreamed  of.  Women,  if  they  were  holders 
of  the  proper  fiefs  or  estates,  held  high  state  office;  in 
England,  for  instance,  they  could  preside  over  the  great 
executive-judicial  assemblages  of  the  County  Courts. 
If  they  did  not  inherit  such  estates  their  position  was 
not  politically  less  important  than  that  of  a  younger 
son. 

The  United  States  was  founded  at  a  time  when  the 
political  rights  of  men  were  beginning  to  emerge  from 
the  restraint  under  which  they  had  been  placed  by  the 
feudal  system  and  the  age  of  absolutism  which  fol- 
lowed it,  and  there  has  accordingly  never,  in  any  one 
of  the  forty-eight  separate  republics  which  we  call 
states,  been  any  question  of  the  full  possession  and 
exercise  of  these  rights  by  every  adult,  white,  male 
citizen.  But  at  that  time  the  notion  that  these  political 
rights  should  be  a  part  of  the  inheritance  of  their 
women  had  not  even  come  into  the  realm  of  ideas. 


POLITICAL  STATUS  OF  WOMEN        1741 

For  this  reason,  although  the  poUtical  status  of  men 
is  practically  identical  in  each  of  the  states,  in  no 
two,  omitting  the  full-suffrage  states,  is  the  status  of 
women  the  same.  If,  however,  we  divide  the  country 
into  four  great  divisions,  North,  South,  Middle  West, 
and  Far  West,  we  shall  see  that  certain  general  tenden- 
cies are  manifest  in  each. 

In  the  North  and  South  women's  political  rights  are 
far  behind  those  rights  in  the  rest  of  the  country.  In 
the  Far  West  over  three-quarters  of  the  states  have 
given  their  women  full  political  equality.  In  the 
Middle  West,  while  in  only  one  state,  Kansas,  women 
have  full  suffrage  and  other  political  rights,  wide  de- 
velopments of  partial  suffrage  exist  —  very  important 
partial  suffrage,  for  instance,  in  Illinois.  The  North 
and  South,  while  both  behind  the  West,  are  different 
from  each  other.  In  the  South,  except  in  Louisiana, 
women  have  almost  no  political  rights  of  any  kind, 
while  in  the  North  they  have  a  very  definite  status, 
but  their  privileges  are  restricted  mainly  to  holding 
minor  political  offices.  The  reason  for  these  differ- 
ences is  historically,  if  not  logically,  apparent.  In  the 
North,  where  women  outnumber  men  and  where  the 
higher  education  of  women  has  been  longest  estab- 
lished, economic  pressure  has  forced  them  into  paid 
employments,  and  this  has  qualified  them  to  an  unusual 
degree  for  at  least  the  minor  executive  and  clerical 
offices  of  the  government.      In  the   South  the  social 

conservatism  of  the  people  has  made  them  look  askance 
10 


1742        POLITICAL  STATUS  OF  WOMEN 

at  any  tendency  which  seemed  to  them  of  a  socially 
revolutionary  character,  as  the  "  women's  rights  "  move- 
ment did  seem,  while  its  real  political  significance  ap- 
parently passed  unnoticed  by  them.  The  Far  West 
had  the  advantage  of  being  settled  after  the  ideas  of 
women's  political  position  had  already  undergone  a 
considerable  change,  the  smaller  proportion  of  women 
in  the  population  increased  their  estimated  value,  and 
the  general  radical  and  experimental  temperament  of 
the  people  inclined  them  to  give  full  suffrage  a  trial. 
The  Middle  \\'est,  lying  between  these  three  sections, 
has  been  affected  by  them  all. 

Women  enjoy  full  suft'rage  in  nine  states  —  Arizona, 
California,  Colorado,  Idaho,  Kansas,  Oregon,  Utah, 
Washington,  and  \\'yoming.  This  involves  in  each 
of  these  states  the  full  right  to  hold  all  political  offices. 
In  all  the  other  states  except  one  such  suffrage  will 
have  to  be  attained  by  an  amendment  to  the  state  con- 
stitution, which  requires  a  referendum  to  the  people. 
The  exception  is  North  Dakota,  where,  by  a  special 
provision  of  her  constitution,  a  women-suffrage  amend- 
ment may  be  adopted  by  the  legislature.  In  New 
Jersey,  suffragists  have  always  claimed  that  the  prop- 
erty-owning women  still  had  by  right  the  full  suffrage, 
never  having  been  deprived  of  their  colonial  privilege 
in  this  respect  by  proper  or  constitutional  legislative 
action.  The  courts  of  that  state  have,  however,  de- 
cided adversely  to  that  contention  (Carpenter  vs. 
Cornish,  83  Atl.  31). 


»      »     1       1 


Copyright   1910   by   Kath.   E.   McClellaii. 
JULIA   WARD   HOWE. 
A  strong  advocate  of  Woman  Suffrage. 


POLITICAL  STATUS  OF  WOMEN        i745 

The  denial  of  the  franchise  to  the  women  sometimes 
produces  an  interesting  and  anomalous  situation.  In 
Alabama,  for  instance,  where  they  have  a  property 
qualification,  a  man  may  qualify  on  his  wife's  prop- 
erty, and  in  Rhode  Island,  where  they  also  have  such 
a  qualification,  a  man's  tenure,  by  the  curtesy  of  his 
dead  wife's  estate  will  give  him  the  vote  she  never  had. 

While  full  suffrage  is  possessed  by  women  in  only 
nine  states,  in  most  of  the  others  some  form  of  the 
elective  franchise,  either  in  school,  municipal,  or  tax- 
raising  matters,  is  open  to  them.  Ordinarily,  however, 
they  enjoy  these  various  forms  of  suffrage  not  in  their 
capacity  as  adult  women  but  in  that  of  taxpayers,  par- 
ents, freeholders,  or  in  some  other  special  capacity. 
Only  sixteen  states  give  them  no  possible  electoral  privi- 
leges at  all.  These  states  are  Nevada,  Texas,  Missouri, 
Arkansas,  Alabama,  Georgia,  Florida,  South  Carolina, 
North  Carolina,  Tennessee,  Indiana,  West  Virginia, 
Virginia,  Pennsylvania,  Rhode  Island,  and  Maine. 
This  does  not  mean,  by  the  way,  that  in  these  states 
women  possess  no  political  rights,  for  in  the  most  of 
them  they  can  hold  political  offices  of  varying  impor- 
tance. Of  all  the  states,  Georgia  is  the  only  one  uncivil 
enough  to  exclude  women  from  political  rights  ex- 
pressly and  by  name.  In  most  instances  electors  are 
defined  as  male  citizens,  and  then  all  offices,  etc.,  are 
declared  open  only  to  electors,  thereby  safely  sidetrack- 
ing women.  But  Georgia  bluntly  says :  "  Females  are 
not  entitled  to  the  privilege  of  the  elective  franchise; 


1746       POLITICAL  STATUS  OF  WOAIEN 

nor  can  they  hold  any  civil  office  or  perform  any  civil 
functions,  unless  specially  authorized  by  law."  (Const. 
Art.  II,  §2.)  It  will  be  noted,  however,  that  even  in 
this  conservative  state  women  are  specially  authorized 
by  law  "to  hold  certain  offices." 

Each  of  these  various  kinds  of  limited  suffrage  — 
school,  taxpaying,  and  municipal  —  varies  in  value  and 
meaning  in  practically  every  state,  and  a  superficial 
analysis  of  these  differences  may  be  of  interest.  In 
six  states  —  i.  e.,  Connecticut,  Massachusetts,  Montana, 
New  Hampshire,  Vermont,  and  Wisconsin  —  women 
vote  on  matters  appertaining  to  schools  which  are  sub- 
mitted to  the  people,  whether  these  matters  are  decided 
at  the  time  of  a  general  election  or  not,  and  vote  also 
for  substantially  all  peculiarly  school  officers.  Fre- 
quently it  is  required  that  there  be  separate  ballot  boxes 
for  the  women  voters,  to  avoid  confusion,  and  that 
they  register  in  separate  lists.  In  two  states,  on  the 
other  hand,  Delaware  and  Iowa,  women  vote  on  school 
matters  only  if  they  are  taxpayers  or  freeholders,  and 
then  only  on  the  question  of  raising  money  for  schools. 
In  Delaware  a  woman  is  entitled  to  one  vote  for  each 
dollar  or  fraction  of  a  dollar  of  school  tax  assessed 
against  her.  In  North  Carolina  the  freeholders  may 
petition  for  an  election  on  the  question  of  whether  a 
tax  shall  be  levied  for  school  purposes,  but  only  electors 
may  vote  at  the  election  when  it  occurs.  In  Kentucky, 
by  a  recent  statute,  women  may  vote  on  school  matters 
if  they  possess  all  the  qualifications  of  male  voters  and 


POLITICAL  STATUS  OF  WOMEN        1747 

in  i^ddition  are  able  to  read  and  write.  (Acts  of  Ky., 
191-'.  cli.  47.)  In  nine  states  what  is  apparently  full 
school  franchise  has  been  limited  by  court  decisions  or 
cut  down  by  omissions  in  the  statute  so  as  to  be  far 
less  comprehensive  than  it  at  first  sight  seems.  Women 
are  thereby  frequently  excluded  from  voting  for  con- 
stitutional officers  —  /.  e.,  officers  mentioned  and  estab- 
lished by  the  state  constitution  —  or  at  elections  that 
pass  upon  other  than  school  matters,  or  else  the  rights 
which  the  legislature  seemed  to  bestow  are  in  some 
other  way  vitally  curtailed.  Thus  in  Illinois  women 
may  not  vote  for  county  superintendent  of  schools  or 
on  propositions  submitted  to  the  electors  for  decision. 
(People  V.  Welsh,  70  111.  641;  People  v.  English,  139 
111.  622;  Plummer  v.  Yost,  144  111.  68.)  In  Michigan 
the  state  board  of  education  and  the  regents  of  the 
University  are  also  removed  from  their  control.  ( Coffin 
V.  Thompson,  97  Mich.  189;  Belles  v.  Burr,  76  Michi- 
gan, I.)  In  Minnesota  women  can  vote  only  at  purely 
school  elections  and  therefore  not  for  county  super- 
intendent of  schools,  who  is  elected  at  the  general 
election.  In  Xew  York  women  electors  are  prohibited 
from  voting  for  state  school  commissioners  (Matter 
of  Gage,  141  N.  Y.  112),  in  Nebraska  (State  v.  Cones, 
15  Neb.  447)  and  South  Dakota,  for  county  and  state 
superintendent  of  schools,  and  in  North  Dakota  for 
superintendent  of  pulilic  instruction  and  county  su- 
perintendent. In  Ohio  they  may  vote  only  for  the 
board  of  education,  and  in  Oklahoma  they  may  not 


1748       POLITICAL  STATUS  OF  WOMEN 

vote  on  bond  issues  nor  for  school  officers  higher  in 
grade  than  district  school  officers.  In  some  states,  such 
as  New  York  and  Nebraska,  the  school  suffrarre  is  lim- 
ited  to  certain  classes  of  towns  and  cities,  generally 
the  smaller  and  more  rural  communities.  In  New 
Jersey  the  courts  have  construed  the  school  suffrage 
statutes  to  exclude  women  from  voting  for  school  offi- 
cers, leaving  within  their  province  only  the  decision  of 
the  question  of  raising  money  for  school  purposes. 
(St.  V.  Deshler,  25  N.  J.  L.  177;  Kimbal  v.  Hendee, 
57  N.  J.  L.  309.)  In  Mississippi,  "patrons  of  the 
school "  elect  trustees,  and  a  widow  with  a  child  is  con- 
sidered a  patron.  In  Texas  "  parents "  may  petition 
for  the  establishment  of  a  school.  It  will  be  seen  in 
all  this,  as  stated  before,  that  even  limited  school  suf- 
frage is  not  open  to  women  as  such,  but  only  to  those 
of  them  who  are  parents,  taxpayers,  etc.  Their  status 
in  this  respect,  however,  does  not  differ  from  that  of 
the  male  voter  on  the  same  matters. 

In  many  of  the  states  the  right  of  the  property-own- 
ing and  taxpaying  women  to  have  some  control  over 
the  expenditure  of  the  public  money  is  recognized. 
After  all,  "No  taxation  without  representation"  is  a 
theory  that  has  gone  pretty  deep  into  the  American 
political  consciousness.  So,  even  in  Arkansas,  where 
very  little  favor  is  extended  to  the  idea  of  political 
activity  among  women,  taxpaying  women  may  petition 
for  the  establishment  of  local  improvements,  and  in 
Mississippi  they  may  petition  against  the  issuance  of 


POLITICAL  STATUS  OF  WOMEN        1749 

city  bonds,  and  if  twenty- five  per  cent  of  the  taxpayers 
do  so  petition  the  bonds  are  not  issued.  In  Montana 
they  may  vote  on  all  state  or  local  questions  submitted 
to  the  vote  of  the  taxpayers  of  the  state.  In  Louisiana 
women  taxpayers  vote  on  all  matters  submitted  to  the 
taxpayers  as  such,  and  they  may  further  vote  without 
registration  and  by  proxy  —  this  latter  being  a  doubt- 
ful privilege  enjoyed  by  male  taxpayers  as  well.  In 
Louisiana  women  taxpayers  may  also  vote  on  the  ques- 
tion of  exempting  improvements  from  taxation.  In 
Iowa  they  may  vote  on  school  and  municipal  bond 
issues.  In  New  York,  in  all  towns  and  villages,  and 
by  special  charter  in  certain  cities  of  the  third  class, 
women  vote  on  all  local  propositions  to  raise  money 
by  bond  or  taxation,  and  also  on  certain  questions  indi- 
rectly financial,  such  as  the  incorporation  or  dissolution 
of  a  village.  In  North  Carolina  they  may  join  in  a 
petition  for  a  school  tax  election.  In  Texas  twenty- 
five  per  cent  of  the  taxpayers  of  a  locality  may  by 
petition  obtain  the  formation  of  improvement  and 
drainage  districts.  In  South  Carolina  the  majority  of 
the  freeholders  may  vote  on  the  question  of  bonding 
the  city,  and  by  special  action  may  vote  in  certain  towns 
on  town  bond  issues  (Woodley  v.  Town  of  Clio,  44 
S.  C.  374).  In  Maryland  and  Delaware  the  charters 
of  certain  towns  allow  women  residents  to  vote  on  local 
tax  propositions.  In  Michigan  women  may  vote  on 
any   question   involving   direct   expenditure   of   public 


1750        POLITICAL  STATUS  OF  WOMEN 

money  or  the  issue  of  bonds  for  city,  village,  or  school 
purposes. 

Beside  the  common  school  and  taxpaying  suffrage, 
various  interesting  sporadic  forms  of  special  suffrage 
exist.  In  Connecticut,  Delaware,  and  Minnesota 
women  vote  on  matters  concerning  public  libraries.  In 
New  York  they  may  vote  at  police  district  elections. 
In  Texas  and  Mississippi  as  freeholders  they  may  vote 
on  the  cjuestion  of  putting  the  stock  law  in  operation. 
In  Pennsylvania  "inhabitants"  elect  public  land  trus- 
tees and  in  Arkansas  inhabitants  pass  on  the  question 
of  enforcing  the  three-mile  limit  on  saloons.  Most 
interesting  of  all,  Illinois  has  by  recent  legislation  pro- 
duced another  variation  of  limited  suffrage  and  has 
opened  to  its  women  the  right  to  vote  for  all  but  con- 
stitutional officers,  including  in  the  list  opened  even 
such  important  ones  as  United  States  congressmen. 

The  right  of  w^omen  to  hold  political  office  seems  to 
show  even  preater  variations  from  state  to  state  than 
the  right  to  vote.  In  most  states  there  is  no  express 
restriction  of  offices  to  male  citizens  or  electors,  except 
in  the  case  of  certain  particular  offices,  generally  those 
of  governor  and  state  legislators.  That  women  do  not 
as  a  fact  fill  many  state  offices  in  these  states  is  due  to 
custom  and  the  fact  that  feminine  eligibility  has  never 
occurred  to  either  the  women  or  the  men.  The  states 
coming  under  this  general  heading  are  Delaware, 
Maryland,  New  Mexico,  New  York,  Oklahoma,  Penn- 
sylvania,   Florida,   Vermont,    Nebraska,    New  Jersey, 


POLITICAL  STATUS  OF  WOMEN        1751 

Ohio,  South  Dakota,  and  Texas.  In  IlHnois  there  is 
a  provision  of  the  Revised  Statutes  that  no  one  should 
be  barred  from  any  employment  on  account  of  sex,  but 
this  is  expressly  stated  to  have  no  effect  upon  elective 
office  and  has  been  construed  to  exclude  women  from 
such  elective  office.  In  Missouri  it  was  held,  in  the 
famous  case  of  State  ex  rcl.  Crow  v.  Hostetter  (137 
Mo.  636),  that  women  were  eligible  to  any  office  from 
which  they  were  not  expressly  barred  by  statute.  They 
are,  however,  so  expressly  barred  from  all  general  state 
offices  in  that  jurisdiction.  In  Indiana  and  Michigan 
women  are  eligible  to  all  appointive  offices,  but  not  to 
elective  ones.  In  Connecticut  the  right  of  women  to 
hold  general  state  office  is  undetermined,  but  when  a 
political  party  recently  nominated  a  woman  for  a  high 
political  office  her  name  was  allowed  to  remain  on  the 
ticket.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  in  most  of  the  juris- 
dictions where  there  is  really  nothing  to  prevent  women 
from  holding  any  office,  nevertheless  the  assumption 
is  that  they  are  not  eligible  and  we  have  from  time  to 
time  anomalous  statutes  expressly  allowing  women  to 
hold  positions  they  could  have  held  with  just  as  much 
legality  before  the  statutes.  (Cf.  Okla.  Const.  Art. 
VI,  §27.) 

Women  are  expressly  excluded  by  constitutional 
enactment  from  all  except  certain  minor  offices  in 
Arkansas,  Minnesota,  Mississippi,  Montana,  Nevada, 
North  Carolina,  Ohio,  Rhode  Island,  South  Carolina, 
Virginia,  and  West  Virginia.    In  these  states  one  must 


1752       POLITICAL  STATUS  OF  WOMEN 

be  an  elector  to  qualify.  In  three  states  —  Alabama, 
North  Dakota,  and  Tennessee  —  statutes  instead  of  the 
constitution  disqualify  a  non-elector,  a  disqualification 
more  easily  removed  should  the  people  so  desire.  In 
certain  other  states  judicial  decisions  construing  the 
common  law  and  the  statute  law  deprive  women  of 
the  right  to  office  which  they  seem  upon  the  face  of 
the  statute  books  to  have.  These  states  are  Iowa, 
Kentucky,  Maine,  Massachusetts,  Michigan,  New 
Hampshire,  and  Wisconsin.  It  is  the  usual  tendency 
of  these  decisions  to  exclude  only  from  constitutional 
and  elective  offices  and  to  leave  women  eligible  to 
minor  appointive  positions.  In  the  suffrage  states  it 
goes  without  saying  that  women  may  fill  any  office  to 
which  their  fellow  citizens  care  to  elect  or  appoint 
them. 

As  the  states  have  gradually  opened  the  doors  of 
political  office  to  their  women,  it  is  interesting  to  note 
the  sort  of  work  for  which  they  have  most  commonly 
considered  them  qualified.  This  work  falls  into  cer- 
tain well  defined  groups.  The  political  positions  most 
commonly  opened  to  women  are  naturally  school  offices. 

In  Connecticut,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Iowa,  Kentucky, 
Michigan,  Montana,  Nebraska,  New  York,  North 
Dakota,  Rhode  Island,  Tennessee,  Vermont,  and  Mas- 
sachusetts women  may  fill  practically  any  such  offices. 
In  Wisconsin,  women  may  be  school  district  officers, 
members  of  the  board  of  education  and  board  of 
regents,  but  not  state  superintendent  of  education.     In 


POLITICAL  STATUS  OF  WOMEN        1753 

Nevada  a  woman  was  eligible  as  the  state  superin- 
tendent of  schools  or  school  trustee,  but  it  was  held 
that  a  separate  amendment  was  necessary  to  make  her 
eligible  as  deputy.  In  Pennsylvania  women  may  fill 
any  school  office  except  that  of  controller  in  the  first 
district.  In  Louisiana  a  constitutional  amendment  to 
allow  women  to  hold  all  educational  offices  was  recently 
submitted  to  the  electors  and  lost. 

Closely  related  to  school  matters  are  library  matters 
and  in  many  states  the  same  or  similar  statutes  open 
library  as  well  as  school  offices  to  women.  These  states 
include  Delaware,  Georgia,  Massachusetts,  Mississippi. 
Ohio,   Tennessee,  Vermont,  and  \\'isconsin. 

Next  to  educational  office,  the  sort  of  political  work 
for  which  women  are  most  frequently  declared  eligible 
is  the  semi-clerical,  semi-administrative  work  involved 
in  such  positions  as  that  of  town  clerk,  county  treas- 
urer, etc.  The  position  open,  however,  is  generally 
only  that  of  assistant.  In  Connecticut,  Maine,  Massa- 
chusetts, and  New  York  a  woman  may  be  elected  town 
clerk  or  village  clerk.  In  Vermont  she  may  be  town 
clerk,  town  treasurer,  or  library  trustee.  In  Massa- 
chusetts she  may  be  an  overseer  of  the  poor.  In  South 
Carolina  she  may  be  a  departmental  clerk.  In  Minne- 
sota a  woman  may  hold  any  deputy  county  office.  In 
^Michigan  and  Texas  she  may  be  deputy  county  clerk. 
In  Indiana,  Nebraska,  and  Florida,  in  the  latter  by  a 
court  decision  (Jan.  8,  1912),  she  may  be  county  treas- 
urer.   In  Indiana  she  may  also  be  county  recorder  and 


1754        POLITICAL  STATUS  OF  WOMEN 

in  Missouri  a  member  of  the  board  of  county  visitors. 
Under  this  head  also  must  be  included  the  numerous 
instances  where  women  are  holding  clerical  positions 
in  connection  with  the  court  systems  of  the  states. 
They  may  be  clerks  of  various  courts  in  Alabama, 
Iowa,  Massachusetts,  and  Ohio.  In  Massachusetts 
each  court  and  county  is  practically  governed  by  a  sep- 
arate law  relating  to  it  upon  this  subject,  and  no  uni- 
form rule  can  be  laid  down.  In  a  number  of  states  — 
i.  e.,  Connecticut,  Maine,  Massachusetts,  and  Wiscon- 
sin —  a  woman  may  be  a  court  commissioner,  an  officer 
whose  functions,  though  they  vary  somewhat  from 
state  to  state,  may  be  defined  in  general  as  partaking 
both  of  the  clerical  and  the  judicial  character.  In 
Maine  the  court  commissioner  may  solemnize  mar- 
riages. In  Massachusetts  the  court  commissioner  has 
practically  the  power  of  a  notary  public  and  a  justice 
of  the  peace  —  to  avoid,  it  seems,  the  necessity  of 
opening  the  historic  offices  of  Notary  and  Justice  to 
women.  Very  many  states,  on  the  other  hand,  have 
made  women  eligible  to  the  office  of  notary  public.  In 
fact,  notaries  are  so  common  in  the  community  and 
their  remuneration  so  invariably  depends  upon  indi- 
vidual fees  instead  of  state  appropriation  that,  outside 
of  our  foreign  colonies,  most  people  do  not  regard 
them  as  political  officers  at  all.  On  the  other  hand, 
women  are  expressly  excluded  from  this  office  in  Lou- 
isiana, Maine,  Massachusetts,  and  North  Carolina,  in 
the  last  two  states  by  decisions.     There  is,  however,  I 


POLITICAL  STATUS  OF  WOMEN        1755 

believe,  a  constitutional  amendment  pending  in  Massa- 
chusetts to  remove  this  disqualification.  In  New  Jersey 
and  Illinois  a  woman  may  be  a  master  in  chancery. 
Another  political  office  not  generally  regarded  as  such 
is  that  of  attorney  and  counsellor  at  law.  The  opening 
of  this  office-profession  has  been  marked  by  more  seri- 
ous contests  and  opposition  than  any  other  to  which 
women  have  attained.  Little  by  little,  however,  some- 
times by  statute  and  sometimes  by  judicial  construc- 
tion, states  have  swung  into  line,  and  now  it  is  only  in 
a  few  southern  states  like  Georgia  that  women  are 
debarred  from  practicing. 

Just  as  school  offices  opened  quickly  to  women  be- 
cause of  women's  long  connection  with  the  schools  as 
teachers,  so  offices  upon  various  state  charitable  and 
reform  boards  have  opened  because  of  women's  long 
connection  with  charitable  work.  In  fact,  in  this  class 
of  offices  many  states  go  further  and  require  the  ap- 
pointment of  women  on  such  bodies  instead  of  merely 
allowing  it.  This  is  particularly  true  in  regard  to 
boards  controlling  penal  institutions  and  insane  asylums 
to  which  women  and  girls  are  committed.  Women  may 
be  appointed  on  state  charitable  and  penal  boards  in 
Connecticut,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Iowa,  Maine,  Massachu- 
setts, Michigan,  Missouri,  New  York,  Ohio,  Pennsyl- 
vania, Rhode  Island,  South  Dakota,  Vermont,  and 
Wisconsin.  In  Ohio  their  position  is  merely  that  of 
visitor  and  investigator.  In  Oklahoma  a  woman  may 
be    state   commissioner   of    charities   and   corrections. 


1756       POLITICAL  STATUS  OF  WOMEN 

In  many  states  also  —  such  as  Iowa,  Massachusetts, 
Michigan,  Minnesota,  Nebraska,  New  York,  Ohio, 
Pennsylvania,  and  Rhode  Island  —  the  law  requires  the 
appointment  of  police  matrons  for  the  lower  courts 
and  police  stations,  especially  those  of  the  large  cities. 
In  Massachusetts,  Minnesota,  Missouri,  Nebraska, 
New  York,  Rhode  Island,  and  Wisconsin,  female  pro- 
bation officers  must  be  appointed  to  have  charge  of 
the  cases  of  women  and  girl  offenders  committed  by 
the  judges  to  their  care.  The  states  of  Georgia,  Ken- 
tucky, Michigan,  Ohio,  and  Pennsylvania  require  cer- 
tain women  physicians  in  asylums,  etc.,  where  girls 
and  women  are  confined. 

Women  factory  inspectors  are  required  in  Delaware, 
Illinois,  Louisiana,  Maine,  Michigan,  Minnesota,  New 
York,  Ohio,  Rhode  Island  and  Wisconsin.  In  Minne- 
sota, moreover,  the  assistant  commissioner  of  labor 
must  be  a  woman. 

The  principal  value  that  such  a  summary  as  the  pre- 
ceding can  have  is  that  it  may,  by  showing  us  the 
present  and  the  past,  in  some  degree  enlighten  our 
vision  of  the  future.  When  we  have  understood  the 
complex  and  divergent  tendencies  in  existing  condi- 
tions, we  may  possibly  see  better  how  to  guide  those 
tendencies  or  oppose  them.  We  may  decide  that  the 
methods  possible  in  one  community  would  be  fruitless 
in  another.  In  this  connection  we  should  also  note 
the  varying  rate  of  progress  in  different  communities. 
In  the  South,  for  the  most  part,  the  advance  is  nearly 


POLITICAL  STATUS  OF  WOMEN        1757 

imperceptible.  The  single  exception  is  Louisiana, 
where  within  the  last  few  years  women  have  been 
made  eligible  for  a  number  of  offices  and  their  admis- 
sion to  still  others  has  been  submitted  to  the  voters.  In 
the  North  and  Middle  West  hardly  a  legislature  ad- 
journs without  having  extended  the  privileges  of 
women.  In  the  Far  W'est  the  situation  is  somewhat 
different.  There  the  people  are  very  little  given  to 
extending  privileges  inch  by  inch.  When  there  is  action 
on  a  question  of  women's  status  it  is  upon  the  question 
of  giving  full  rights  or  none,  and  they  generally  decide 
for  the  former. 

All  this  raises  many  questions.  Should  the  women 
of  the  rest  of  the  country  follow  the  Far  West  and 
aim  for  the  whole  or  nothing?  Is  it  possible,  for  in- 
stance, that  a  southern  state  should  pass,  without  inter- 
mediate steps,  from  the  condition  of  Georgia  to  that 
of  Colorado?  Again,  can  we  exaggerate  the  value  to 
the  whole  woman  movement  even  in  the  Far  West  of 
putting  more  and  more  important  political  offices  in 
the  North  and  Middle  West  into  the  hands  of  such 
women  as  New  York  and  Illinois  have  been  able  to 
draft  into  the  service  of  their  labor,  immigration,  char- 
itable and  educational  departments? 

Then,  too,  does  the  school  suffrage  or  taxpaying 
suffrage  justify  itself  to  the  point  of  making  it  advi- 
sable to  try  to  attain  limited  franchise?  It  has  been 
asserted  somewhat  widely  that  women  do  not  avail 
themselves  in  large  numbers  of  this  restricted  suffrage. 


175^        POLITICAL  STATUS  OF  WOMEN 

This  has  been  as  widely  and  as  strenuously  denied.  As 
the  statistics  on  each  side  are  based  on  the  observation 
of  a  very  small  number  of  elections  in  very  limited 
communities,  it  is  probable  that  they  are  both  equally 
correct  and  incorrect.  There  is  no  doubt  that,  if  used, 
such  partial  suffrage  constitutes  excellent  training  for 
the  limited  class  who  are  eligible  to  it  and  makes  a 
logical  step  to  complete  emancipation ;  neither  is  there 
doubt  that  full  and  excellent  use  has  been  made  of  the 
office-holding  privileges  extended  women. 

Another  question  of  vital  and  immediate  importance 
concerns  the  desirability  of  federal  action  on  women's 
political  status.  No  two  states  except  the  suffrage 
states  have  similar  laws  on  the  subject  and  uniform 
action  cannot  in  reason  be  expected  on  such  divergent 
foundations.  Would  it  therefore  be  best  to  obtain  as 
soon  as  may  be  a  federal  amendment  which,  when 
ratified  by  three-fourths  of  the  state  legislatures,  would 
become  part  of  the  federal  constitution  and  force 
women's  political  equality  upon  the  protesting  one- 
fourth  of  the  states?  Against  this  proposal  it  may 
be  argued  that,  under  the  theory  of  our  federal  gov- 
ernment, questions  concerning  the  internal  government 
of  the  states  are  to  be  left  to  the  states.  It  may  also 
be  urged  that  a  premature  attempt  to  force  an  amend- 
ment similar  to  the  one  which  gave  electoral  privileges 
to  the  negroes  might  cause  complications  which  would 
be  profoundly  deprecated. 

It  is  not  intended  in  this  article  to  answer  anv  of  the 


POLITICAL  STATUS  OF  WOMEN        1759 

questions  just  raised ;  indeed,  as  to  many  the  author 
has  no  very  firm  conviction  of  her  own  to  offer.  But 
such  inquiries  naturally  result  from  a  survey  of  the 
present  political  status  of  women  in  the  United  States, 
with  its  variations,  its  inconsistencies,  and  its  absurdi- 
ties. They  are  problems  which  American  women  must 
decide  and  decide  promptly  if,  in  the  minimum  time 
and  with  the  maximum  efficiency,  they  are  to  bring 
order  out  of  this  chaos  and  establish  themselves 
throughout  the  nation  upon  an  equal  footing  with  the 
women  of  Finland,  Australia,  Norway,  or  China. 

(See  Questions  for  Review  Page  1784.) 


PART  V 

The  Greatest  Foe  of  Woman  Suffrage:    The 
Organized  Liquor  Traffic 

By  KATHARINE  LENT  STEVENSON 

THE  granting  of  the  right  of  suffrage  to  the  women 
of  all  lands  where  manhood  suffrage  now  exists  is 
the  next  step  in  social  and  political  advance.  No  stu- 
dent of  history  can  question  the  truth  of  this  statement. 
As  we  trace  the  evolution  of  the  human  family  through 
past  ages,  as  we  note  the  advancement  of  governments, 
the  rise  and  fall  of  nations,  we  see  that  each  permanent 
gain  has  carried  with  it  enlargement  of  individual 
rights,  wider  participation  in  the  functions  of  the  state 
on  the  part  of  the  many,  more  definite  voice  of  the  peo- 
ple in  the  making  and  enforcement  of  laws.  When 
nations  have  begun  the  descent  from  their  proud 
eminence  as  world  factors,  that  descent  has  always  been 
indicated  by  a  lessening  of  the  rights  of  the  many 
and  a  corresponding  increase  of  power  and  privilege 
on  the  part  of  the  few. 

We  need  not  point  to  ancient  Greece  and  Rome  to 
prove  these  statements,  although  we  all  know  that  the 
mightiest  days  of  these  great  nations  were  the  days 

1760 


PRANCES  E.  WILLARD. 

Former    President    National    Woman's    Christian    Temperance    Union. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1763 

when  largest  power  was  vested  in  the  people ;  that  they 
began  to  decay  when  dictators  wrested  from  the  citi- 
zens their  personal  and  political  rights;  when  slaves 
increased  and  freemen  lessened.  The  Anglo-Saxon 
race  furnishes  an  illustration  nearer  home.  What  has 
marked  every  step  of  England's  marvelously  increasing 
power?  Has  it  not  been  an  extension  of  personal  and 
political  rights  to  more  and  more  of  her  people?  Of 
late  years  has  it  not  been  an  extension  of  the  right 
of  suffrage,  not  because  the  ballot  is  in  itself  an  end, 
but  because  the  ballot  has  become  largely  the  symbol 
of  all  that  we  mean  when  we  speak  of  human  liberty? 
From  the  days  when  the  Barons  wrested  their  great 
charter  from  the  hands  of  a  reluctant  King,  down  to 
the  days  of  the  corn  laws  riots,  every  advance  towards 
larger  liberty  on  the  part  of  the  British  nation  has 
been  signed  and  sealed  by  a  fresh  enlargement  of  Great 
Britain's  voting  list. 

In  our  own  country  we  know  that  the  ballot  was  at 
first  so  hedged  about  by  property  qualifications  as  to 
be  largely  the  right  of  a  privileged  class,  but  the  dream 
of  a  government  "  of  the  people,  for  the  people  and  by 
the  people,"  has  never  been  absent  from  the  American 
nation.  \\'hen  the  sixteenth  amendment  to  our  Federal 
constitution  was  passed  manhood  suffrage  became  the 
universal  law  of  the  land.  With  the  exception  of 
educational  tests  and  tests  of  ancestry  more  recently 
devised  in  some  sections  of  the  country,  every  man 
who  has  reached  the  age  of  twenty-one  is  free  to  ex- 


1764  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

press  himself  at  the  ballot  box  on  the  machinery  of 
government  under  which  he  lives.  Manhood  suffrage, 
indeed,  has  gone  rampant  and  many  of  the  wisest  and 
most  farseeing  of  our  nation  believe  that  in  a  ballot 
restricted,  not  in  the  interests  of  class  or  race,  but  in 
the  interests  of  knowledge  as  opposed  to  ignorance, 
righteousness  as  opposed  to  unrighteousness  lies  largely 
the  solution  of  our  present  day  problems. 

Whether  or  not  this  be  true  it  is  not  our  province  to 
discuss.  The  fact  we  wish  to  establish  is  that  the  bal- 
lot, whether  considered  as  a  tool  for  service  or  a 
weapon  for  defense,  is  now  denied  to  one  class  only  of 
American  citizens  —  and  that  class  America's  women. 
Is  it  not  apparent  to  all  who  give  the  subject  thoughtful 
consideration  that  the  next  logical  advance  step  must  be 
inevitably  the  extension  to  wives,  mothers,  sisters,  and 
daughters  of  that  right  to  the  ballot  box  which  has  been 
the  sign  manual  of  liberty  and  citizenship  for  husbands, 
fathers,  brothers,  and  sons?  He  who  fails  to  grasp 
this  fact  surely  fails  to  read  the  signs  of  the  times. 

Opposing  Forces 

This  advance  of  a  great  movement,  this  development 
of  a  new  principle  in  government  has  not  been  allowed 
to  pass  unchallenged.  The  granting  of  the  ballot  to 
women  has  been  relentlessly  opposed  by  many  forces 
—  ignorance,  conservatism,  and  a  narrow  range  of 
vision  being  the  chief  unseen  foes  which  have  stood 
in  the  way  of  this,  as  of  all  other  advance  steps  in 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1765 

social  and  political  evolution.  But  in  addition  to  these 
intangible  forces  there  have  been  others  which  have 
taken  upon  themselves  very  outward  and  visible  form 
and  chief  among  these  latter  we  must  everywhere 
reckon  the  organized  liquor  traffic,  —  or,  as  it  so  ar- 
rogantly calls  itself,  — "The  Trade." 

This  is  not  a  surprising  fact;  indeed,  from  the  very 
nature  of  things,  it  was  to  have  been  expected.  The 
liquor  traffic  is  begotten  of  appetite  and  avarice  and 
fostered  in  ignorance.  It  is,  of  necessity,  opposed  to 
any  extension  of  freedom  either  for  the  individual  or 
for  the  State.  Its  strong  hold  lies  in  political  corrup- 
tion while  its  future  existence  depends  upon  a  con- 
tinuance of  such  conditions  as  have  made  possible  its 
existence  hitherto.  Above  everything  else  it  fears 
three  things : 

1.  An  increase  of  knowledge,  both  as  to  the  nature 
and  effects  of  alcohol  and  of  its  own  methods  and  power 
as  an  organized  trust. 

2.  A  lessening  of  the  purchasable  vote. 

3.  The  introduction  into  politics  of  moral  issues  and 
moral  forces. 

Therefore  it  at  all  times  and  in  all  places  opposes  the 
granting  of  suffrage  to  ivomcn. 

Instances  in  proof  of  this  assertion  are  so  many 
that  citation  is  almost  needless.  What  State  ever  yet 
presented  a  Woman  Suffrage  Bill  that  did  not  find  its 
effort  opposed  by  the  representatives  of  the  organized 
liquor  traffic?    It  is  possible  to  deceive  good  people  as 


1766  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

to  what  the  ballot  in  the  hands  of  women  must  ul- 
timately mean  but  it  is  quite  impossible  to  deceive  those 
who,  by  the  very  nature  of  their  financial  interests,  if 
for  no  other  reason,  stand  opposed  to  goodness.  Some 
years  ago,  as  Chairman  of  the  Legislative  work  of  the 
Massachusetts  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union, 
I  conducted  a  hearing  before  the  State  House  Commit- 
tee on  Election  Laws,  based  on  the  petition  that  women 
he  allowed  to  vote  on  the  subject  of  license  or  no- 
license  in  the  annual  city  and  town  elections.  The 
Society  organized  for  the  purpose  of  opposing  the  ex- 
tension of  franchise  to  women,  —  popularly  called  "  The 
Antis,"  —  was  present  in  full  force.  Representatives 
from  the  Churches  and  Missionary  Societies  were 
there  to  oppose  the  measure  on  the  highest  grounds 
of  morality  and  the  public  good.  One  Missionary 
Secretary  in  particular  stated  that  her  chief  reason  for 
opposition  lay  in  the  fact  that  she  believed  the  ballot 
in  the  hands  of  women  would  largely  increase  intem- 
perance and  the  area  of  license  territory  throughout 
the  State. 

Seated  at  the  same  table  with  the  opposing  lawyer  I 
had  been  noting  with  amused  interest  the  lawyer  of  the 
Allied  Liquor  Interests  of  the  State,  with  whom  I  had 
already  fought  many  a  battle.  After  his  concluding 
argument  the  Chairman  of  the  Joint  Committee  asked 
if  any  one  else  desired  to  be  heard  against  the  bill. 
This  lawyer  immediately  arose  and  stated  that  he  was 
present  at  the  request  of  his  clients,  the  Massachusetts 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1767 

Brewers'  Association,  the  Massachusetts  Distillers'  As- 
sociation, and  the  Association  of  Wliolesale  and  Retail 
Liquor  Dealers,  of  Boston,  because  they  believed  the 
passage  of  the  measure  would  be  inimical  to  their  busi- 
ness interests.  Certainly  extremes  met  in  that  hearing 
when  the  official  representative  of  a  missionary  society 
stood  with  the  brewers,  distillers,  and  liquor  dealers ! 

\\'e  know  beyond  a  shadow  of  doubt  that  Michigan 
lost  its  suffrage  bill  in  191 2  through  the  organized  ef- 
forts of  the  liquor  forces  and  their  allies.  The  cartoon 
which  appeared  in  "  The  Saturday  Evening  Post," 
representing  a  committee  as  waiting  on  a  lady  seated 
in  her  elegant  home  and  thanking  her  for  her  help  to 
their  cause,  —  the  lady  being  a  prominent  Anti-suf- 
fragist,—  contained  a  grim  truth,  for  that  committee 
was  composed  of  brewers,  distillers,  wholesale,  and  re- 
tail liquor  dealers,  as  well  as  membersof  the  Vice  Trust, 
the  White  Slavers,  and  men  who  employ  children  in  man- 
ufacturing industries.  Small  wonder  that  the  lady  faints 
when  she  realizes  whom  she,  all  unwillingly,  has  been 
serving. 

A  prominent  New  Zealand  lecturer.  Miss  Anderson 
Hughes,  who  has  been  recently  touring  our  country 
has  confirmed,  over  her  own  signature,  what  I  many 
times  heard  when  I  myself  was  privileged  to  visit  New 
Zealand  some  four  years  ago.  Miss  Hughes  says  :  "  I 
am  a  native  of  New  Zealand  and,  since  my  girlhood, 
have  been  associated  with  political,  social,  and  philan- 
thropic societies.    The  only  organization  in  my  country 


1768  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

which  definitely  opposed  the  granting  of  suffrage  to 
women  was  the  organized  Hquor  traffic.  The  only- 
person  in  New  Zealand  whom  I  have  ever  heard  speak 
against  woman  suffrage  was  a  liquor  dealer  who  be- 
lieved that  the  woman's  vote  had  largely  been  responsible 
for  the  sweeping  temperance  victories  we  have  secured." 
The  other  suffrage  countries  and  states  join  in  this 
testimony.  So  far  from  the  Trade  seizing  upon  the 
woman's  ballot  as  an  asset  in  their  business, —  as  our 
friends  the  enemy  would  have  us  believe,  —  they  have 
everywhere  opposed  the  enactment  o-f  the  law  and 
everywhere  would  have  it  repealed  if  it  were  in  their 
power  to  effect  the  repeal.  The  "bad  woman"  who 
has  been  such  a  bug-a-boo  to  good  men  does  not  exist 
to  any  appreciable  degree  as  a  political  factor  in  the 
minds  of  the  liquor  dealers.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
women  who  work  for  laws  restricting  or  overthrowing 
their  business  exist  in  such  large  numbers  as  to  prove 
a  constant  menace  to  their  peace  of  mind  and  to  the 
perpetuity  of  their  existence. 

Not  a  Passing  Phase 

This  is  not  a  passing  phase  of  the  subject;  it  is  a 
condition  inherent  in  the  very  nature  of  the  case.  The 
liquor  traffic  and  woman  suffrage  must  remain  antago- 
nistic until  the  one  shall  have  overthrown  the  other. 
There  are  certain  fundamental  reasons  why  this  must 
be  the  case.  Woman  suffrage,  reduced  to  its  last  analy- 
sis, always  means  the  protection  of  the  home,  the  con- 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1769 

servation  of  society's  most  vital  forces.  The  liquor 
traffic,  reduced  to  its  last  analysis,  means  the  over- 
tlirow  of  the  individual  home,  together  with  the  dis- 
sipation and  ultimate  destruction  of  those  forces  which 
make  for  the  conservation  and  development  of  society. 
How  can  it  be  otherwise  than  that  the  two  should  be 
pitted,  each  against  the  other,  in  a  war  to  the  death? 
Granted  that  not  all  women  stand  for  the  highest 
standards  and  noblest  ideals  of  the  home;  this  is  only 
another  way  of  saying  that  the  human  race  has  not  yet 
reached  its  highest  development.  There  are  still  women 
with  low  concepts  of  happiness  and  of  honor;  there  are 
still  women  who  do  not  love  their  children,  in  any  true 
sense  of  the  word  and  who  have  no  vision  of  the  re- 
lation of  each  to  all  in  our  manifold  human  relation- 
ships. There  are  women  who  put  personal  ease  above 
human  progress.  There  are  even  women  who  choose 
sin  rather  than  hardship  or  duty.  There  are  men  who 
fall  under  the  same  indictment.  The  ballot  in  the  hands 
of  women  will  not  bring  in  the  millennium  nor  will  it 
overcome  at  once  all  the  ills  that  flesh  is  heir  to.  For 
both  men  and  women  life  is  a  great  educational  proc- 
ess and  we  do  not  enter  the  higher  classes  until  we 
have  passed  through  the  lower,  nor  do  we  graduate 
rapidly  as  full-fledged  angels.  There  are  other  lessons 
in  other  worlds  and  the  higher  classes  must  wait  for  the 
lower  to  emerge,  oftentimes  from  dense  ignorance,  be- 
fore humanity  shall  come,  as  a  social  unit,  upon  the 
plane  of  a  truly  Christian  civilization. 


I770  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

What  the  Ballot  Has  Thus  Far  Meant 

Nevertheless,  when  all  this  has  been  granted,  the 
fact  remains  that  the  ballot  in  the  hands  of  women  has 
everywhere  meant  a  social  advance.  It  has  meant  bet- 
ter laws  for  women  and  children,  better  protection  for 
the  home,  while  the  liquor  traffic,  from  its  very  nature, 
stands  opposed  to  legislation  which  will  lift  burdens 
from  the  backs  of  little  children  or  give  them  a  fair 
chance  to  be  well  born  and  well  nurtured.  The  first 
statement  has  been  abundantly  proven  wherever  woman 
suffrage  has  had  an  opportunity  to  show  its  workings ; 
the  second  is  proven  every  day  in  all  places  the  world 
over  where  the  liquor  traffic  has  right  of  way. 

On  April  24,  19 12,  Hon.  Edward  H.  Taylor,  of  Colo- 
rado, made  a  remarkable  speech  before  the  National 
House  of  Representatives  in  which  he  specified  what  he 
considered  the  most  important  of  the  one  hundred  and 
fifty  laws  enacted,  primarily  through  the  influence  of 
its  women  voters,  in  Colorado,  from  1895  to  191 2,  in- 
clusive. The  first  bill  introduced  into  the  Legislature 
after  women  were  given  the  right  to  vote  was  for  the 
establishment  of  a  State  Home  for  dependent  and 
neglected  children.  The  next  raised  the  age  of  con- 
sent for  young  girls  to  eighteen  years.  The  next  made 
married  women  joint  guardians  of  their  own  children 
with  equal  privileges  and  powers.  Other  measures 
have  been :  for  protecting  the  property  of  infants  and 
insane  persons ;  for  establishing  a  State  Industrial 
School  for  girls;  liberal  appropriations  for  the  already 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1771 

existing  Industrial  School  for  boys;  compulsory  edu- 
cational laws  for  all  children  between  eight  and  four- 
teen years  of  age ;  kindergartens  provided  in  all  schools ; 
creation  of  county  high  schools;  prohibiting  the  furnish- 
ing to  any  child  under  sixteen  of  cigarettes  or  tobacco; 
an  act  prescribing  and  regulating  hours  of  employment 
for  women  and  children  and  preventing  any  woman 
or  girl  over  fifteen  from  working  more  than  eight  hours 
a  day  in  any  position  requiring  her  to  stand  or  be  upon 
her  feet;  family  maintenance  act,  compelling  a  man  to 
support  his  wife  and  children,  also  compelling  children, 
if  able  to  do  so,  to  support  their  destitute  and  infirm 
parents ;  a  splendid  pure  food  and  drug  law ;  the  estab- 
lishment of  juvenile  courts ;  providing  for  the  education 
of  dependent  and  neglected  children;  establishing  de- 
tention houses  and  parental  or  truant  schools  for 
juvenile  delinquents;  a  drastic  anti  white  slave  law, 
with  a  penalty  of  one  to  five  years  in  the  penitentiary. 
These  are  only  a  few  of  the  measures  which  one 
state  alone  has  secured  through  the  "team  work"  of 
its  men  and  women  citizens.  Is  it  not  apparent  upon 
the  very  face  that  these  measures  all  have  a  direct  bear- 
ing upon  the  welfare  of  future  homes  and  future  citi- 
zens? The  story  of  the  wmrk  of  the  women  of  Seattle 
for  the  recall  of  their  infamous  mayor  is  too  well 
known  to  need  repetition.  With  his  downfall  came  the 
downfall  of  the  'segregation  of  vice  for  the  great  me- 
tropolis of  our  Northern  Pacific  Coast.  Moreover,  wdiile 
no  woman  suffrage  state  has  as  yet  secured  state-wide 


1772  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

prohibition  of  the  legaHzed  liquor  traffic  it  is  yet  a  well- 
known  fact  that  the  no-license  area  of  these  states  has 
been  largely  increased  since  the  ballot  was  given  to 
women.  In  all  the  far  western  states  the  men  citizens 
are  far  in  excess  of  the  women ;  therefore  it  is  decidedly 
illogical  to  blame  their  failure  to  secure  prohibition  to 
the  fact  that  women  are  voters. 

In  Finland,  after  women  were  made  voters  and  be- 
came members  of  parliament,  a  prohibition  law  was 
immediately  passed.  The  Czar  refused  it  his  sanction, 
at  the  instigation  of  the  French  wine  growers.  At  the 
second  session  of  parliament  it  was  again  passed  and 
has  again  been  refused  the  royal  approval.  Sweden 
and  Norway  have  been  making  rapid  advance  in  no- 
license  territory  since  women  have  been  given  the  right 
to  express  themselves  in  the  only  effective  way,  through 
the  ballot.  Of  New  Zealand  Miss  Hughes  says  :  "  New 
Zealand  is  a  country  which  has  led  the  world  in  many 
reforms  and  measures  of  progressive  legislation;  the 
advance,  as  well  as  the  steadily  increasing  prosperity 
of  the  country,  has  all  been  effected  since  the  enfran- 
chisement of  the  women.  A  few  of  the  reforms  se- 
cured have  been:  Compulsory  arbitration;  pensions 
for  deserving  aged  poor;  universal  penny  postage;  the 
Factories'  Act;  Workmen's  Homes  Act,  through  which 
every  thrifty  working  man  may  own  his  own  home; 
greatly  extended  free  education;  regulation  of  hours 
of  work  and  minimum  wage  laws ;  subsidizing  widowed 
mothers,   without  means,    for  the  care  of  their  own 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1773 

children  and  provision  for  competent  maternity  nurses 
even  in  the  most  removed  rural  districts.  Woman's 
vote  in  New  Zealand  has  brought  about  no  revolution 
but  it  has  brought  about  legislation  which  has  ensured 
improved  conditions  of  life  for  all,  especially  for 
women  and  children,  and  it  has  aroused  the  women  to 
a  fuller  sense  of  national  responsibility  and  patriotism. 
Our  women  are  most  capable  and  efficient  in  all  domestic 
matters,  and  the  fact  that  we  have  the  second  highest 
birth  rate  and  the  lowest  rate  of  infant  mortality  in  the 
world  speaks  eloquently  for  an  intelligent  motherhood. 
No  thoughtful  person  can  doubt  that  women's  enfran- 
chisement has  wrought  in  New  Zealand  for  the  best 
interests  of  the  home,  the  Dominion  and  the  Empire." 
Now  in  New  Zealand  the  liquor  traffic  works 
against  "the  best  interests  of  the  home,  the  Dominion 
and  the  Empire."  In  every  land  it  works  against  the 
best  interests  of  all  that  should  be  reckoned  as  making 
for  National  greatness.  Look  at  the  fearful  toll  the 
liquor  traffic  takes  of  future  generations.  The  recent 
investigations  of  some  of  the  world's  greatest  scientists 
are  appalling  on  these  points.  Sixty-five  percent  of  the 
epileptics  of  our  own  land  owe  their  dread  disease,  it 
is  said,  to  the  use  of  alcohol  on  the  part  of  their  parents. 
Seventy  percent  of  the  tuberculosis  cases,  it  is  estimated, 
are  due  directly  or  indirectly  to  drink.  The  same  pro- 
portion is  given  by  some  authorities  for  insanity.  Dr. 
MacNichol,  of  New  York,  whose  recent  searching  in- 
vestigation has  attracted   world-wide  attention,   says : 


1774  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

"  Within  thirty  years  the  mortality  from  chronic 
diseases  in  the  United  States  has  doubled  .  .  .  within 
a  period  of  fifty-three  years  the  country's  population 
increased  350  percent,  while  the  number  of  insane  and 
feeble-minded  increased  950  percent  ,  .  ,  During  the 
past  five  years  the  United  States  birth  rate  has  fallen 
off  33  I "3  percent;  this  means  the  loss  of  a  million 
babies  a  year.  Let  this  same  degeneracy  continue  at 
the  same  rate  for  one  hundred  years,  and  there  will  not 
be  a  native  born  child  five  years  old  in  the  United 
States."  Dr.  MacNichol  then  answers  the  question : 
"What  is  the  cause  of  this  degeneracy?"  as  follows: 

"  A  hundred  different  intermediate  agencies  may 
contribute  to  the  undoing  of  the  race  but  back  of  them 
all  stands  alcohol  as  the  chief  degenerative  factor.  .  . 
The  great  burden  of  drink  is  not  borne  by  the  drinker 
but  by  the  drinker's  children.  The  germ  cell  that  is  to  be 
evolved  into  another  being  is  the  most  highly  organized 
of  all  the  cells  in  the  human  body.  In  its  protoplasm 
lies  the  material  and  pattern  of  the  perfect  organism. 
.  .  .  A  defective  germ  cell  cannot  evolve  a  normal 
body:  that  is  why  we  find  a  large  percentage  of  func- 
tional and  organic  diseases  among  the  children  of 
drinking  parents.  ...  In  one  institution  for  the  treat- 
ment of  physical  defectives  a  recent  study  shows  that 
every  patient  is  the  child  of  drinking  parents." 

Is  it  not  inevitable  that  an  institution  which  produces 
such  results  should  stand  diametrically  opposed  to  plac- 
ing in   the   hand   of   the   Motherhood   of  a   nation   a 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1775 

weapon  for  the  protection  of  her  children  .against  its 
ravages  ?  And  even  worse  than  the  physical  and  mental 
effects  are  the  moral  which  send  down  crooked  think- 
ing, moral  degeneracy,  and  spiritual  paralysis  even  to 
the  third  and  fourth  generations. 

The  Economic  Question 

But  the  liquor  traffic  not  only  affects  the  women  of 
our  land  as  home  makers;  it  crosses  the  path  of  every 
woman  who  must  make  for  herself  a  living  through 
some  productive  industry.  Woman  as  wage  earner 
is  no  longer  a  theory ;  she  is  a  stern  and  uncompromising 
fact.  Women  have  been  forced  into  the  ranks  of  labor 
whether  they  would  or  not.  The  stern  law:  "If  a 
man  will  not  work  neither  shall  he  eat,"  has  its  feminine 
as  well  as  its  masculine  interpretation.  For  good  or  for 
ill  women  must  be  reckoned  with  in  the  labor  market 
and  must  themselves  reckon  wuth  the  conditions  they 
find  there.  Does  the  laboring  man  need  the  ballot  ? 
There  can  hardly  be  two  answers  to  this  questio4i.  But 
what  reason  can  be  given  for  the  ballot  in  the  hands 
of  the  laboring  man  which  has  not  equal  force  for  the 
ballot  in  the  hands  of  the  laboring  wo*nan? 

How  both  men  and  women  are  made  to  suffer  with- 
out that  protection  is  a  story  which  he  who  runneth 
may  read.  The  underpaid  woman  is  a  constant  menace 
to  the  ranks  of  labor  as  a  whole.  \\'herever  a  woman 
can  be  found  who  will  undertake  a  certain  piece  of 
work  for  less  than  a  living  wage,  not  she  alone  suffers. 


1776  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

but  the  whole  industrial  army  with  her.  But  why 
should  a  woman  be  willing  to  undertake  a  piece  of 
work  for  scanty  wages  ?  Because  the  market  is  flooded 
with  women  and  girls  who  ought  to  be  living  in  the 
comfort  of  their  own  homes,  who  ought  to  be  doing 
housework,  mending,  caring  for  the  children,  and  cook- 
ing their  family's  food,  but  who  are  nevertheless 
forced  out  to  compete  with  some  other  woman,  or  some 
man.  Where  untrained  labor  can  be  made  to  serve  an 
end  untrained  labor  will  be  employed  so  long  as  our 
social  order  is  the  preeminently  selfish,  soulless  thing 
it  is  today  and,  therefore,  the  untrained  woman  be- 
comes one  of  the  greatest  of  our  present  economic 
problems. 

But  what  forces  so  many  women  out  of  their  homes 
into  the  ranks  of  untrained  labor?  There  are  many 
other  causes,  without  doubt,  but  who  having  looked 
into  the  matter  ever  superficially  can  question  that  the 
liquor  traffic  and  its  resultant  intemperance  is  the  great-i 
est  cause  of  this  menace  to  the  social  order?  The 
Father's  money  is  spent  in  the  saloon.  What  is  there 
for  the  wife  to  do  but  try  to  find  some  way  to  earn 
enough  to  keep  her  children  from  starvation?  Child 
labor,  too,  is  largely  the  outgrowth  of  the  liquor  traffic. 
It  is  true  that  the  greed  of  employers  is  responsible  for 
that  to  a  good  degree,  but  no  other  one  cause  sends  so 
many  children  into  the  factories  when  they  ought  to 
be  in  school  as  does  the  intemperance  of  parents. 

Moreover  no  other  business  in  the  world  pays  so 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1777 

little  in  wages  for  the  invested  capital  as  does  the 
liquor  traffic.  According  to  reUable  statistics  less  than 
forty-six  millions  of  dollars  are  paid  annually  to  wage 
earners  in  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  liquor.  But 
seventy-five  times  as  much  is  paid  to  wage  earners  by 
the  total  number  of  manufacturers.  Is  it  not  significant 
that  the  Commission  appointed  in  19 10  by  the  Massa- 
chusetts Legislature  to  investigate  the"  causes  which  had 
led  to  the  increased  cost  of  living  should  have  reported 
that  the  direct  cost  of  the  liquor  traffic  to  the  State  was 
ten  millions  of  dollars,  "to  say  nothing  of  the  indirect 
expense?"  During  that  same  year  the  entire  amount 
received  by  the  State  for  all  classes  of  licenses  was 
$3,406,000.88.     Comment  is  unnecessary. 

The  Conclusion  of  the  Whole  Matter 

The  liquor  traffic  and  womanhood  are  mutually  an- 
tagonistic. Each  sees  in  the  other  its  own  direct  foe. 
Woman,  by  her  very  nature,  stands  for  the  conservation 
of  life's  forces,  from  the  standpoint  of  physical,  mental, 
moral,  economic,  and  social  life.  The  liquor  traffic 
stands  for  the  overthrow  of  all  these.  It  ministers  to 
disease,  to  immorality  and  crime,  to  poverty,  and 
waste,  to  the  complete  disintegration  of  the  social  order. 
Woman  has  used  against  this  foe  to  her  hrppiness  and 
effectiveness  the  weapons  of  love  and  prayer,  of  de- 
termined opposition,  and  of  moral  suasion.  One  only 
method  of  prevention  and  overthrow  has  been  largely 

denied  to  her  and  that  the  one  method  which  added  to 
12 


1/78  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

the  others  will  be  finally  effective:  viz.,  the  arraign- 
ment before  the  bar  of  public  opinion,  through  law  and 
law  enforcement  of  this  arch  foe  to  her  home  and  her 
loved  ones,  this  arch  traitor  against  society.  The  time 
cannot  much  longer  be  delayed  when  she  will  be  per- 
mitted to  add  this  to  her' other  weapons  of  defense  and 
of  attack.  With  universal  woman  suffrage  the  doom 
of  the  organized,  legalized,  liquor  traffic  is  sealed. 

The  evil  is  everywhere  apparent.  Its  remedy  is  two- 
fold :  First,  knowledge  as  to  what  the  liquor  traffic 
really  is  and  how  it  opposes  all  Home's  highest  inter- 
ests; second,  the  focalizing  of  this  knowledge  into  the 
white  heat  of  woman's  ballot  "  for  the  protection  of  the 
Home,  for  the  abolition  of  the  liquor  traffic  and  for  the 
triumph  of  Christ's  Golden  Rule  in  custom  and  in 
law." 

(See  Questions  for  Review  Page  1785.) 


ANNA    IIOWAUl)    SHAW. 

For    Several    Years    President    of   the    National    American    Woman 

Suffrage  Association. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1781 


QUESTIONS    FOR   REVIEW.     PART   I 

1.  iriio  is  usually  credited  zvitli  being  the  first  prophet  of  ivoman 
suffrage? 

2.  What  zvas  the  status  of  German  zvomen  in  early  times? 

3.  What  race  spread  the  doctrine  of  the  subjection  of  zvomen? 

4.  What  opportunities  were  open  to  women  from  the  I3th  to 
the  14th  centuries? 

5.  What  zvas  the  attitude  of  the  early  church? 

6.  IPltat  right  did  feudalism  afford  women?    In  zvhat  lands  did 
women  as  land  owners  have  votes? 

7.  Was  there  any  interest  in  zvoman  suffrage  in  Revolutionary 
Days  ? 

8.  What  zvas  "The  Declaration  of  the  Rights  of  Women?" 

9.  Name  some  of  the  zvomen  of  the  19th  century  zvho  aided 
greatly  in  advancing  the  cause. 

10.  What  recent  advance  has  been  made  in  the  various  coun- 
tries of  Europe? 

11.  Give  a  brief  account  of  the  movement  in  England,  and  the 
present  situation  there. 

/_'.  Wliat  is  the  status  of  zvoman  in  the  British  Colonics?     In 
Asia? 

SUBJECTS   FOR   SPECIAL  STUDY 

/.  Primitive  JVoman. 

2.  Writings  of  Hesiod,  Aristophanes,  Euripides,  Sophocles,  con- 
cerning zvomen. 

3.  Comparative  freedom  of  Hebrezv  women  in  ancient  times. 

4.  The  christian  versus  the  pagan  zvoman. 

5.  Effect  of  nionasticism  upon  the  status  of  zvomen;  of  the  age 
of  chivalry. 

6.  Woman  and  education. 


1782  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

QUESTIONS  FOR  REVIEW.     PART  II 

1.  What  zi'as  the  legal  status  of  women  in  the  American 
Colonies? 

2.  Hozv  does  the  entrance  of  luomen  into  industry  mark  the 
beginning  of  a  nezv  epoch  in  the  woman's  rights  movement? 
When  did  this  epoch  begin? 

J.  Discuss  the  legal  struggle  for  economic  independence  of 
women.  Wlto  secured  the  first  petition  for  a  married  women's 
property  bill?  In  which  state  legislature  and  in  what  year  was 
such  a  bill  first  introduced? 

(Maine  passed  the  first  married  zvomen's  property  bill  in  1844.) 

4.  In  ivhat  zvays  zvere  the  early  temperance  and  anti-slavery 
movements  contributory  to  the  zvoman  suffrage  movement?  What 
direct  influence  was  exerted  by  the  World's  Anti-Slavery  Con- 
vention in  London  in  1840? 

5.  When  and  where  was  the  first  zi<oman's  rights  convention  in 
the  zvorld  called?  Name  the  four  women  who  signed  the  call. 
Discuss  the  proceedings. 

6.  What  great  change  took  place  in  the  economic  status  of 
women  during  the  Civil  JVar?  Name  five  zvomcn  zvho  occupied 
positions  of  responsibility  under  the  zvar  government? 

7.  Why  was  the  Republican  party  during  its  early  years  sup- 
posed to  be  favorable  to  zvoman  suffrage?  What  events  dispelled 
this  illusion? 

8.  What  are  the  XIII,  XIV  and  XV  Amendments?  Describe 
the  attempts  of  zvomen  to  vote  under  the  XIV  Amendment.  What 
celebrated  case  put  an  end  to  these  attempts?  In  what  year  was 
the  decision  rendered? 

9.  Name  the  first  state  zvhich  granted  full  suffrage  to  women? 
In  zvhat  year?  Name  the  three  states  which  followed,  giving 
the  years  in  zvhich  the  amendments  passed. 

10.  When  and  where  was  the  Woman  Suffrage  Party  formed? 
Discuss  its  rapid  spread  and  its  value  as  an  introduction  to  prac- 
tical politics. 

11.  Which  political  parties  have  a  suffrage  plank  in  their  plat- 
forms?   In  zvhat  years  were  these  planks  first  inserted? 

12.  Hozv   many  zvomen   in    the    United  States   now   have  full 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1783 

suffrage?    How  many  have  partial  suffrage?    Hozv  many  have 
no  suffrage? 


SUBJECTS   FOR  SPECIAL  STUDY 

/.  Early  Suffrage  Leaders. 

2.  The  Struggle  to  Vote  Under  the  XIV  Amendment  and  What 
It  Taught  Us. 

J.  Reasons  for  the  Present  Distribution  of  Suffrage  Territory 
in  the  United  States. 

4.  What  Women  Have  Done  JVhere  They  Are  Voting. 

QUESTIONS  FOR  REVIEW.     PART  III 

1.  Show  how  the  characteristic  limitations  on  the  colonial  suf- 
frage developed  out  of  English  conditions. 

2.  What  were  the  characteristic  voting  and  office-holding  quali- 
fications required  by  the  early  state  constitutions? 

5.  What  were  the  influences  leading  to  the  introduction  of  man- 
hood suffrage  in  the  United  States? 

4.  What  methods  has  the  South  devised  to  disfranchise  negro 
men  in  spite  of  the  fifteenth  amendment? 

5.  What  are  the  main  theories  of  the  suffrage? 

6.  Can  you  draw  any  line  bettveen  justifiable  and  unjustifiable 
restrictions  on  the  right  to  vote? 

7.  Give  an  outline  of  the  argument  for  limited  suffrage;  for 
unlimited  suffrage. 

8.  What  reasons  may  be  assigned  for  the  partial  failure  of 
manhood  suffrage  in  the  United  States  to  secure  good  govern- 
ment? 

g.  Show  the  significance  of  nominating  machinery  in  producing 
good  or  bad  government. 

10.  The  significance  of  the  Australian  ballot  system. 

11.  The  relation  of  civil  service  reform  to  popular  government. 

12.  Name  some  of  the  reforms  in  political  machinery  that  have 
been  introduced,  or  are  being  introduced,  with  view  to  making 
popular  suffrage  really  effective.  What  are  the  conditions  of 
success  for  these  reforms? 


1784  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

SUBJECTS  FOR   SPECIAL   STUDY 

1.  The  evolution  of  the  ballot  in  its  relation  to  good  govern- 
ment. 

2.  The  conditions  under  zvhich  an  extended  suffrage  franchise 
will  be  successful. 

3.  The  racial  and  social  characteristics  of  city  populations  as 
bearing  upon  the  question  of  suffrage  qualifications  in  American 
cities. 

4.  The  election  laivs  and  procedure  in  your  state. 


QUESTIONS  FOR  REVIEW.     PART  IV 

1.  What  is  political  status?  Hoiv  does  it  differ  from  civil 
status  f 

2.  What  has  been  the  historical  relation  betiveen  political  and 
civil  status? 

S.  What  was  the  effect  of  the  feudal  system  on  women's  politi- 
cal condition? 

4.  What  states  give  ivomen  full  political  equality? 

5.  Where  are  these  states  located?  Is  their  geographical  con- 
tiguity an  accident? 

6.  Where  in  the  country  are  women's  political  rights  fewest? 

7.  Where  women  have  limited  suffrage,  upon  zvhat  matters  can 
they  generally  vote?     Why? 

8.  Where  ivomen  have  limited  office-holding  rights,  what  offices 
can  they  generally  hold?     Why? 

p.  What  is  meant  by  judicial  legislation  or  legislation  by  de- 
cision? Has  judicial  legislation  affected  the  political  status  of 
zvomen?    If  so,  in  what  general  way? 

10.  Does  it  make  any  difference  if  the  exclusion  of  zvomen 
from  political  rights  is  by  constitutional  provision,  legislatiz'e 
enactment  or  judicial  decision?     Why? 

11.  What  is  school  suffrage?  Does  it  alzvays  mean  the  same 
thing  and  confer  the  same  rights?    Discuss. 

12.  Just  zvhat  rights  are  generally  included  in  the  "taxpaying 
suffrage"? 


wo:man  suffrage  1785 

SUBJECTS   FOR   SPECIAL   STUDY 

/.  Political  rights  of  iconicii  of  England  and  Continental  Europe 
as  compared  'a'ith  the  United  States. 

3.  Question  of  the  value  of  limited  suffrage  and  office-holding 
as  steps  to  complete  emancipation. 

J.  Question  of  the  relatiic  desirability  of  State  or  Federal 
action  on  suffrage. 

4.  Detailed  history  of  the  development  of  political  rights  of 
zi'ovien  in  your  on'u  State. 

QUESTIONS  FOR  REVIEW.     PART  V 

1.  Jl'hat  is  the  next  inevitable  step  in  social  and  political 
advance? 

2.  What  incidents  in  past  history  prove  this  to  be  a  logical 
conclusion? 

J.  What  are  some  of  the  chief  forces  opposing  the  granting  of 
the  ballot  to  ■women? 

4.  What  are  the  basic  reasons  on  zvhich  the  liquor  traffic 
opposes  ivoman  suffrage? 

5.  Is  tliis  a  logical  opposition,  based  on  the  nature  of  things? 

6.  What  incidents  can   be  given  as  to  what  the  ballot   in   the 

hands  of  zvomen  has  already  accomplished. 

7.  What  are  some  of  the  statements  of  leading  scientists  as 
regards  the  effects  upon  children  of  the  drinking  habits  of  their 
parents? 

8.  What  is  the  extent  of  the  poiver  of  this  organised  foe? 

SUBJECTS  FOR  SPECIAL  STUDY 

/.  The  physiological  effects  of  alcohol  and  its  special  relation 
to  child-life. 

2.  The  extent  of  the  liquor  traffic  and  its  pozver  in  the  finan- 
cial zvorld. 

3.  The  liquor  traffic  in  its  relation  to  social  problems;  impurity, 
the  zi'hite  slave  traffic  and  allied  evils. 

4.  The  position  of  the  home  in  a  true  civilization. 


PART  VI 
Facts  and  Figures  Concerning  Equal  Suffrage 

Edited  and  Compiled  by 
FLORENCE  BENNETT  PETERSON 

The  Editor's  Foreword 

EQUAL  SUFFRAGE  for  women  has  become  one  of  the 
most  vital  issues  of  the  socio-political  movement  of 
the  present  time.  All  over  the  world,  people  are 
recognizing  that  woman's  enfranchisement  is  being  brought 
about  by  a  law  that  is  final  and  irresistible,  viz.:  "All  those 
who  share  in  the  life  of  a  State  are  subject  to  its  laws;  they 
gain  or  sufifer  by  its  prosperity  or  adversity;  therefore,  they 
are  entitled  to  a  share  in  the  control  of  its  policy." 

Equal  Suffrage  is  becoming  more  important  in  statistics, 
the  science  of  states.  The  growing  intelligence  of  people 
seeks  to  measure  and  evaluate  the  political  phase  of  the 
woman  movement.  Not  only  the  student  of  political  evolu- 
tion, but  the  rank  and  file  of  men  and  women  are  asking  for 
information,  facts,  and  figures.  The  following  pages  present 
tables  showing  the  history  and  growth  of  sufifrage  and  eligi- 
bility; different  kinds  of  franchises  granted  to  women;  the 
number  of  women  eligible  to  vote  and  the  percentage  voting; 
the  effect  of  woman's  vote  on  legislation;  official  positions 
held  by  women;  procedure  for  constitutional  amendments; 
tabulations  of  laws  that  are  particularly  related  to  the 
suffrage  movement,  etc. 

The  editor  desires  to  express  especial  appreciation  to  the 
compilers  of  "  Woman  Suffrage  in  Practice,"  a  new  book 
published  by  the  International  Woman  Suffrage  Alliance, 
London,  to  the  National  American  Woman's  Suffrage  Associa- 
tion, to  Mrs.  Catherine  Waugh  McCulIoch,  and  to  the  many 
devoted  friends  of  suffrage  who  so  kindly  sent  reports  of  recent 
suffrage  activities. 

1786 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1787 


PROGRESS  OF  EQUAL  SUFFRAGE  IN  THE  WORLD 

TIME  PLACE  KIND  OF  SUFFRAGE 

1834    England  and  Wales.  .  .Poor  law  guardian  suffrage. 

1838     Kentucky  School    suffrage    to    widows    with 

children  of  school  age. 

1854     Transvaal    Municipal  suffrage. 

1850    Ontario  School    suffrage,    women    married 

and  single. 

i86i     Kansas    School  suffrage. 

l86i     Bohemia    Franchise    and   eligibility    for   the 

Provincial  Diet. 
1864     Bohemia    Communal    franchise    except    in 

Prague  and  Reichenberg. 

1866  Russia   Proxy  landtaxpayer's  suffrage. 

1867  New  South  Wales Municipal  suffrage. 

1869    England    Municipal  suffrage,  single  women 

and  widows. 

Victoria    iMunicipal    suffrage,    married    and 

single  women. 

Wyoming    Full  suffrage. 

1871     West  Australia Municipal  suffrage. 

187s     Michigan    School  suffrage. 

Minnesota    School  suffrage. 

1876  Colorado    School  suffrage. 

1877  New  Zealand School  suffrage. 

1878  New   Hampshire School  suffrage. 

Oregon     School  suffrage. 

1879  Massachusetts School  suffrage. 

1880  New   York School  suffrage. 

Vermont   School  suffrage. 

South    Australia Municipal  suffrage. 

1881  Scotland  Municipal    suffrage    to    the    single 

women  and  widows. 
Isle  of  Man Parliamentary  suffrage. 

1882  Cape  Colony Municipal  suffrage. 

1883  Nebraska    School  suffrage. 

1884  Burmah    Municipal  suffrage. 


1788  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

TIME  PLACE  KIND  OF  SUFFRACiE 

Ontario  Municipal  suffrage. 

Tasmania  Municipal  suffrage. 

1 886  New  Zealand Municipal  suffrage. 

New    Brunswick Municipal  suffrage. 

Hungary Active    indirect    communal    fran- 
chise on  a  property  basis — a  proxy  vote. 
France Limited   form  of  school   suffrage. 

1887  Kansas    Municipal  suffrage. 

Nova  Scotia Municipal  suffrage. 

Manitoba    Municipal  suffrage. 

North  Dakota School  suft'rage. 

South  Dakota School  suffrage. 

Montana    School  suffrage. 

Arizona School  suffrage. 

New  Jersey School  suffrage. 

Montana    Taxpaying  suffrage. 

1888  England    County  suffrage. 

British  Columbia Municipal  suffrage. 

Northwest   Territory.  .Municipal  suffrage. 

1889  Scotland  County  suffrage. 

Province  of  Quebec.  ..  .Municipal  suffrage,  single  womea 

and  widows. 
1891     Illinois   School  suffrage. 

Roumania     School  committee  suffrage. 

1S93     Connecticut    School  suffrage. 

Colorado    Full  suffrage. 

New  Zealand Full  suffrage. 

1894  Ohio  School  suffrage. 

Iowa   Bond  suffrage. 

England    Parish  and  district  suffrage,  mar- 
ried and  single  women. 

1895  South    Australia Full  State  suffrage. 

1896  Utah    Full  suffrage. 

Idaho   Full  suffrage. 

1898    Ireland    All  offices   except  members  of 

Parliament. 
Minnesota  Library  trustees. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1789 

TIME  PLACE  KIND  OF  SUFFRAGE 

Delaware   School    suffrage    to    taxpaying 

women. 

France  Women  engaged  in  commerce  can 

\  ote  for  Judges  of  the  Tribunal  of  Commerce. 
Louisiana     Taxpaying  suffrage. 

1900  Wisconsin    School  suffrage. 

West  Australia Full  State  suffrage. 

1901  France  Employment    suffrage    and    eligi- 

bility. 

New  York Taxpaying  suffrage,  local  taxation 

in  all  towns  and  villages  of  the  State. 

Norway  Municipal  suffrage. 

igo2    Australia  Full  suffrage. 

New   South   Wales.  ..  .Full  State  suffrage. 

1903  Kansas    Bond  suffrage. 

1904  Orange  River  Colony.  .  Municipal  suffrage. 
Tasmania  Full  State  suffrage. 

1905  Queensland  Full  State  suffrage. 

1906  Finland Full  suffrage,  eligible  to  all  offices. 

1907  Italy    Council  of  expert  suffrage. 

Norway  Full  Parliamentary  suffrage  to  the 

300,000  women  who  already  had  municipal  suffrage. 

Sweden    Eligible  to  municipal  offices. 

Denmark    Can  vote   for  members  of  boards 

of  public  charities  and  serve  on  such  boards. 

England    Eligible  as  mayors,  aldermen,  and 

county  and  town  councillors. 
Oklahoma    New   State  continued  school  suf- 
frage for  women. 

1908  AIiCHiGAN    Taxpayers  to  vote  on  questions  of 

local  taxation  and  granting  of  franchises. 

Denmark    Women    who    are    taxpayers,    or 

wives  of  taxpayers,  a  vote  for  all  officers  except  mem- 
bers of  Parliament. 

Victoria    Full  State  suffrage. 

France Council    of    Expert    suffrage    and 

eligibility. 


I790  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

TIME  PLACE  KIND  OF  SUFFRAGE 

1909  Belgium    Can    vote    for    members    of    the 

Counseils  des  Prudhommes,  and  also  eligible. 
Province    of   Voralberg 
(Austrian  Tyrol)  . . .  Single  women  and  widows  paying 

taxes  were  given  a  vote. 

1910  Washington    Full  suffrage. 

New   Mexico School  suffrage. 

Norway  Municipal  suffrage  made  universal. 

Bosnia   Parliamenary  vote  to  women  own- 
ing   a    certain    amount    of    real 
estate. 
Diet   of   the   Crown  Province  of  Krain 
(Austria)     Suffrage  to  the  women  of  its  cap- 
ital city,  Laibach. 
India    (Gaekwar    of 

Baroda) Women  of  his  dominions  vote  in 

municipal  elections. 
WiJRTEMBERG,    KINGDOM .  Women     engaged    in    agriculture 
vote    for    members    of    the    Chamber    of    Agriculture. 
Also  eligible. 

New^  York Women  in  all  towns,  villages,  and 

third-class  cities  vote  on  bonding  propositions. 

191 1  California    Full  suffrage. 

Honduras   Municipal  suffrage  in  Belize. 

Iceland    Parliamentary  suffrage  for  women 

over  25  years. 
Ireland    Eligibility  to  borough  and  county 

councils. 

1912  Kentucky  Full  school  suffrage. 

Norway   Eligibility  to  nearly  all  offices. 

Italy    Council  of  Commerce  suffrage. 

Oregon     Full  suffrage. 

Kansas    Full  suffrage. 

Arizona  Full  suffrage. 

1913  Alaska    Full  suffrage. 

Norway   Full  suffrage. 

Illinois    Limited     franchise.      Vote     for 

President  and  offices  created  by  statute. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1791 

GROWTH  OF  MUNICIPAL  SUFFRAGE 

1854  Transvaal. 

1862  Sweden. 

1867  New  South  Wales. 

1869  England,  Victorl^. 

1871  West  Australia. 

1880  South  Australia. 

1881  Scotland. 

1882  Cape  Colony. 

1884  BURMAH,   OnT.^RIO,   TASMANIA. 

1886  New  Zealand,  New  Brunswick. 

1887  Kansas,  Nova  Scotia,  Manitoba. 

1888  British  Columbia,  Northwest  Territory. 

1889  Province  of  Quebec. 
1901  Norway. 

1904  Orange  River  Coijdny. 

191 1  Belize,  Capital  of  Honduras. 

1913  Illinois. 

GROWTH  OF  SCHOOL  SUFFRAGE 


1838 

Kentucky. 

1850 

Ontario. 

I86I 

Kansas. 

1875 

Michigan,  Minnesota. 

1876 

Colorado. 

1877 

New  Zealand. 

1878 

New  Hampshire,  Oregon. 

1879 

Massachusetts. 

1880 

New  York,  Vermont. 

1883 

Nebraska. 

1887 

North  Dakota,  South  Dakota,  Montana,  Arizona, 

New  Jersey. 

I89I 

Illinois,  Roumania. 

1894 

Ohio. 

1898 

Delaware. 

1900 

Wisconsin. 

1/92 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 


1910    New  Mexico. 
igi2    Kentucky. 

Note. —  In  many  instances,  school  suffrage  was  limited  and  is 
slill  limited.  Kentucky  was  given  school  suffrage  in  1838,  and 
had  the  bill  nullified  by  a  subsequent  unfriendly  legislature.  Bill 
passed  again  in  1912  giving  full  school  suffrage. 

WHERE  WOMEN   HAVE  FULL  SUFFRAGE 


d.\te 
country  granted 

New  Ze.\land 1893 

Federated  Australia..  1902 

**  Norway   1907 

Finland    ." 1906 

Wyoming    1869 

Colorado    1893 

Utah    1896 

Idaho   1896 

Washington    1910 

t  California 191 1 

t  Kansas  1912 

t  Oregon 1912 

t  Arizona 1912 

t  Alaska  1913 

Norway    1913 


number 

of  women 

eligible  to  vote 

300.000 

1,100,000 

300,000 

40,000 

34,000 
160,000 

55.500 

68.000 
I  70,000 
600,000 
400,000 
I  10,000 

30,000 

4,000 

500,000 


PERCENTAGE 

OF  WOMEN 

WHO  DO  VOTE 

74  to  85 
40  to  60 
20  to  55 
55  to  60 
80  to  90 

75  to  85 
85  to  90 
75  to  85 
85  to  95 
75  to  80 


In  the  Isle  of  Man,  women  who  pay  rent  or  taxes  have  had  the 
full  Parliamentary  franchise  since  1892;  woman  property  owners, 
since  1881. 

**  Norway  gave  the  munieipal  franchise  to  tax-paying  women  in 
1001  In  1907,  the  full  franchise  was  extended  to  all  women  who 
already  had  the  municipal  franchise.  In  1910,  the  tax-paying  qualifica- 
tion was  r(>moved  from  the  municipal  franchise,  so  that  at  the  present 
time,  all  Norwegian  women — in  nnmher  about  500,000 — have  the 
municipal  franchise,  while  only  the  tax-paying  women  have  the  full 
franchise.  The  tax-paying  qualification  was  removed  from  the  Par- 
liamentary franchise  in  1913. 

t  Appi'oximnte  figures,  based  on  the  Census.  1010. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1793 

*  TABLE  OF  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  DATES 


Boards  of 

School 

Municipal 

Guardians 

Boards 

Councils 

The 

Legislature 

Country 

Eligi- 

Eligi- 

Eligi- 

Eligi- 

Vote 

bility 

Vote 

bility 

Kind 

Vote 

biUty 

Kind 

Vote 

bihty 

Australasia- 

New  Zealand 

1877 

1877 

ad 

1886 

1886 

ad 

1893 



Commonwealth 

of  Australia 

ad 

1902 

1902 

South  Australia 

1897 

1892 

1892 

t 

1880 

— 

ad' 

1894 

1894' 

Western      Aus- 

tralia 

t 

1871 

— 

ad 

1899 



New    South 

Wales2 

t 

1867 

— 

ad 

1902 

— 

Tasmania 

t 

1884 

— 

ad 

1903 



Queensland 

t 

1886 

— 

ad 

1905 

— 

Victoria 

t 

1869 

— 

ad 

1908 

— 

America— 

The  United 

States  3  * 

Wyoming 

1869 

1869 

1869 

1869 

ad 

1869 

1869 

Colorado 

1876 

yes 

1893 

1893 

ad 

1893 

1893 

Idaho 

1896 

1896 

1986 

1896 

ad 

1896 

1896 

Utah 

1896 

1896 

1896 

1896 

ad 

1896 

1896 

Washington 

1890 

yes 

1910 

1910 

ad 

1910 

1910 

California 

1911 

1911 

1911 

1911 

ad 

1911 

1911 

Arizona 

1887 

yes 

1912 

1912 

ad 

1912 

1912 

Kansas 

1861 

yes 

1887 

1912 

ad 

1912 

1912 

Oregon 

1878 

yes 

1912 

1912 

ad 

1912 

1912 

Alaska 

1913 

1913 

1913 

1913 

ad 

1913 

1913 

Illinois 

1913 

1913 

1913 

1913 

Canada- 

Ontario 

yes 

yes 

1884 

— 





New  Brunswick 

1893^ 

1886 

— 

— 



Nova  Scotia 

yes 

1895 

1887 

— 

— 



Manitoba 

yes 

yea 

1888 

— 





British   Colum- 

bia 

1891 

1891 

1888 

— 





Prince  Edward 

Island 

1899 

1899 

1888 

— 

— 



Quebec 

yes 

— 

1892 

— 





Alberta  and 

— 

Saskatchewan 

yes 

yes 

yes 

— 

— 

British  Honduras 

Belise 

1911 

Europe- 

Finland 

1872^ 

— 

ad 

1907 

1907 

Norway 

1889 

1889 

1901" 

1901' 

t 

1907 

1907 '9 

Sweden 

18S9 

1862 

1889 

1862* 

1909* 

— 

Denmark 

1907 

1907 

1908 

1908 

1908  8 

1908* 

— 



Iceland 

1909* 

1909 

— 



Isle  of  Man 

t 

1881 



England  and 

Wales 

1834 

1875 

1870 

1870 

1869 

1907 

t 

— 



Scotland 

yes 

yes 

1872 

1872 

1881 

1907 

t 

— 



From  "Woman  SiifTrage    in  rractitc.' 


1794  WOAIAN  SUFFRAGE 

TABLE  OF  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  DATES  {Continued) 


Boards  of 

Schoo 

Guardians 

Boards 

Town  Councils' 

The  Legislature 

Country 

Eligi- 

Eligi- 

Eligi- 

Eligi- 

Vote 

bility 

Vote 

bility 

Basis 

Vote 

bility 

Basis 

Vote 

biUty 

Ireland 

1837 

1896 

t 

1898 

1911 

t 

German  Em- 

pire" 

Austria '1 

The  Nether- 

lands 

1903^ 

1903' 

France 

13 

13 

Italy 

1890 

1907 

— 

— 



— 

Russia 

t 

1866 '■' 

— 

— 

— 

Bohemia 

t 

1861 

1861 1« 

Hungary 

t 

yesi' 

— 

Roumania 

1891 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

Asia— 

Burmah  (Ran- 

goon) 

t 

1884 

— 

Bombay 

t 

yes 

? 

Java 

t 

yes" 

? 

South  Africa— 

Transvaa. 

— 

1907 

t 

1903 

— 

— 

— 

Cape  Colony 

1906 

1906 

t 

1882 

— 

— 

— 

Natal 

1910^^ 

1910 

t 

— 

— 

— 

— 

Orange  Free 

State 

1908 

1908 

t 

1904 

— 

-^ 

~~ 

( — )    Women  are  excluded  from  this  right,    (ad)    On  an  adult  basis. 

(t)   On  a  tax-paying  basis. 

(1)  For  the  Legislative  Council  or  Upper  House  the  Franchise  is 
on  a  property  basis  and  women  are  not  eligible  to  be  elected. 

(-)  There  are  also  Shire  Councils  for  which  women  have  vote  and 
eligibility    (1905). 

(3)  The  franchise  and  eligibility  for  the  State  legislature  carries 
with  it  the  franchise  and  eligibility  for  the  Federal  Legislature. 

(*)  Besides  the  fully  enfranchised  States  here  mentioned,  four  States 
have  school  suffrage  and  eligibility  and  some  form  of  tax-paying 
suffrage  for  women,  and  sixteen  States  have  some  form  of  school 
suffrage  but  no  other  suffrage  for  women.  One  state,  Illinois,  has 
limited  suffrage  created  by  statute. 

(=)    Nominated. 

(«)  Except  where  otherwise  stated  by  footnote  Town  Councils  only 
are  here  referred  to. 

(')  On  this  date  the  Urban  Commune  franchise  was  conferred. 
The  rural  Commune  franchise  was  conferred  1863. 

(')   This  refers  to  communal  elections. 

C)  The  communal  franchise  had  been  granted  to  unmarried  women 
in  1882. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1795 

('")  In  m.any  German  States  women  vote  on  a  property  qualification 
sometimes  in  person  and  sometimes  by  proxy  for  rural  communes. 

(»)  Women  are  qualified  to  vote  in  some  cases  as  tax-payers  ;  in 
others  as  large  landowners  for  some  of  the  Provincial  Diets.  The  vote 
in  general  must  be  exercised  by  proxy. 

(")      By  nomination. 

(^')  Women  have  stood  for  election  and  have  polled  thousands  of 
Totes.  No  woman  has  been  elected,  so  the  question  of  a  woman's  right 
to  be  elected  has  not  been  finally  decided. 

(")  Women  vote  by  proxy  for  Municipal  and  Provincial  Councils. 

C^^)  Every  village  elects  a  head  man,  and  women  vote  in  large 
numbers. 

(")  As  proxy  for  absent  male  parent. 

(^')  Unmarried  women  vote  by  proxy  in  communal  elections. 

(!')  A  right  which  women  are  trying  to  have  definitely  established. 

(18)  Full  parliamentary  suffrage  1913. 


13 


1796  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 


INTERNATIONAL  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

NORTH  AMERICA 

THE  UNITED  STATES 

Males            Females  Total 

Population,  1910                    47,332,122       44,640,144  91,972,266 
Number    of    women    having    full    suffrage    and 

eligibility  1,737,500 

Nine  States  and  one  Territory  have  full  equal  suffrage 
and  eligibility  for  women  for  all  local,  state,  and  federal 
elected  bodies,  and  the  right  to  vote  for,  or  stand  to  be 
elected  to,  any  official  position,  including  that  of  President. 


School 

Municipal 

Legisla 
ture,  etc 

Wyoming, 

1869, 

1869, 

1869. 

Colorado, 

1876, 

1893, 

1893. 

Idaho, 

1896, 

1896, 

1896. 

Utah, 

1896, 

1896, 

1896. 

Washington, 

1890, 

1910, 

1910. 

California, 

1911, 

1911, 

1911. 

Arizona, 

1887, 

1912, 

1912. 

Kansas, 

1861, 

1887, 

1912. 

Oregon, 

1878, 

1912, 

1912. 

Alaska, 

1913. 

Four  States  have  school  suffrage  and  eligibility  and  some 
form  of  taxpaying  suffrage  for  women. 

School  Taxpaying 

New  York,                              1880,  1901. 

Delaware,  1898. 

Michigan,                                  1867,  1909. 
Montana,                                 1887. 

Fourteen  States  have  some  form  of  school  suffrage,  but 
no  other  suffrage. 


o  c 

<  -. 
o  p  -; 

nncr 


tn 


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m 


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a;  -3 


C   = 

»  o 
tfi  • 
m 

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_a 

«  ■ 

-o 
re  2 

i-*a 

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5"ai 

g." 

If  55* 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1799 

New  Hampshire  1878  South  Dakota  188/ 

Massachusetts  1879  Connecticut  1893 

Vermont  1880  Ohio  1894 

Mississippi  1880  Wisconsin  1900 

Nebraska  1881  Oklahoma  1907 

New  Jersey  1887  Kentucky  1912 

North  Dakota  1887  New  Mexico  1912 

One  State,  Illinois,  passed  a  bill  0913)  granting  women 
the  right  to  vote  for  offices  created  by  statute.  This  gives 
presidential  suffrage,  and  limited  municipal,  township,  and 
county  suffrage. 

STATUS  OF  SUFFRAGE  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

OCTOBER,  1913 
Free  States: 


1.     Wyoming 

6.     California 

2.     Colorado 

7.     Oregon 

3.     Utah 

8.     Kansas 

4.     Idaho 

9.     Arizona 

5.     Washington 

10.     Alaska  (Ter.) 

States  where   the 

Amendment 

is   now    (1913)    before   the 

voters: 

House 

Senate  Goes  to  Voters 

Montana 

75-2 

15-2                 1914 

Nevada 

49-3 

19-3                1914 

North  Dakota 

77-29 

31-19              1914 

South  Dakota 

70-30 

41-2                1914 

States  where  the  Amendment  has  passed  one  Legislature 
and  must  pass  another: 

House  Senate  Goes  to  Voters 

Iowa  81-26 

New  Jersey  46-5 

New  York  125-5 

Pennsylvania  131-70 

The  Legislatures  of  four  other  States  gave  majority  votes 
of  both  houses  for  the  submission  of  equal  suffrage.  These 
favorable   votes   were  cast   in    Maine,    Michigan,    West   Vir- 


31-15 

1916 

14-5 

1914 

40-2 

1915 

26-22 

1915 

i8oo  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

ginia,  and  Wisconsin.  In  Maine  and  West  Virginia,  the 
legislative  majority  fell  short  of  the  needed  two-thirds;  in 
Alichigan,  the  amendment  failed  to  carry  the  popular  vote; 
in  Wisconsin,  the  governor  vetoed  the  bill. 


HOW  WOMEN  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  CAN 
OBTAIN  THE  POLITICAL   FRANCHISE 

1.  By  amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States: 

ARTICLE   5— AMENDMENTS 

How  amended. — The  Congress,  whenever  two-thirds  of 
both  houses  shall  deem  it  necessary,  shall  propose  amend- 
ments to  this  constitution,  or,  on  application  of  two-thirds 
of  the  several  States,  shall  call  a  convention  for  proposing 
amendments;  which,  in  either  case,  shall  be  valid,  to  all  in- 
tents and  purposes,  as  a  part  of  this  Constitution,  when  rati- 
fied by  the  legislatures  of  three-fourths  of  the  several  States, 
or  by  conventions  in  three-fourths  thereof,  as  the  one  or 
other  mode  of  ratification  may  be  proposed  by  Congress. 

2.  By  amendments  to  State  constitutions: 

*Each  State  has  the  power  to  admit  the  women  of  its 
own  State  to  full  suffrage.  Each  State  has  a  separate  ma- 
chinery for  altering  its  constitution.  In  the  majority  of  the 
States  it  is  necessary  that  both  Houses  of  the  Legislature 
shall  vote  in  favor  of  the  question  being  sent  to  a  referen- 
dum of  the  voters.  In  several  States,  two  successive  legis- 
latures must  agree  to  sending  the  question  to  the  refer- 
endum. In  a  few  States,  a  petition  signed  by  a  certain 
percentage  of  the  electors  (the  initiative)  is  sufficient  that 
a  referendum  be  taken.  The  constitutions  of  some  States 
require  that  at  certain  definite  intervals  a  convention  shall 
be  called  to  amend  the  State  Constitution.  All  alterations 
must  then  be  submitted  to  the  voters  for  ratification  or 
rejection. 

•  See  table  on  Suffrage  Constitutional  Amendments,  p.  1804. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1801 


HOW  WOMEN  MAY  OBTAIN  LIMITED  FRANCHISE 

The  Legislatures  of  some  States  are  empowered  to  enact 
laws  which  give  municipal  and  presidential  suffrage.  Sev- 
eral bills  have  passed  Legislatures  giving  school  suflfrage, 
tax  suffrage,  and  bond  suffrage. 

Court  decisions  pertaining  to  the  constitutionality  of 
limited  suffrage: 

"The  women  suffrage  bill  passed  by  the  Illinois  legislature  (1913) 
would  extend  the  franchise  to  women  for  certain  officers  not  mentioned 
in  the  constitution  of   Illinois  and  for   certain   propositions. 

As  these  officers  specified  in  the  bill  are  not  mentioned  in  the  con- 
stitution, they  need  not  be  elected  by  the  voters  prescribed  by  the 
constitution.  These  officials  are  the  creation  of  the  legislaturi^  which 
also  has  power  to  describe  whether  they  shall  be  appointed  or  elected, 
and  if  elected  the  qualifications  of  their  electors. 

The  Supreme  Courts  of  various  "states  have  decided  that  the  legis- 
lature has  unlimited  power  in  prescribing  restrictions  on  the  right  of 
franchise  and  in  making  extensions  of  this  right  in  elections  of  statu- 
tory officers  not  named  in  the  constitution.  Belles  v.  Burr,  76  Mich. 
1  ;  Wheeler  v.  Brady,  15  Kan.  26  ;  State  v.  Cones,  15  Neb.  444  ;  Destine 
V.  Dubuque,  7  Iowa,  286  ;  State  v.  Board  of  Elections,  9  Ohio  Cir.  Ct. 
134;  Wood  v.  Quimby  (R.  I.)  40  Atl.  163;  Hanna  v.  Young  (Md.),  35 
Atl.  675  :  State  v.  Dillon,  32  Fla.  545-566  ;  Morrison  v.  Springer,  15 
Iowa,  342 ;  Woodley  v.  Town  Council  of  Clio,  44  S.  C.  374  ;  Wilson 
v.  Florence,  39  S.  C.  397  ;  Wilson  v.  Florence,  40  S.  C.  290  ;  Town  of 
Valverde  v.  Shattuck,  19  Col.  110  ;  Kimball  v.  Hendee,  57  N.  J.  307  ; 
Landis  v.  Ashworth,  57  N.  J.  509  ;  Chamberlain  v.  Cranbury,  57  N.  J. 
605;  Harris  v.  Burr  (Ore.),  52  Pac.  Rep.  R.  20;  Commonwealth  v. 
Reeder,  171  Fa.  505  ;  Buckner  v.  Gordon,  81  Ky.  669  ;  State  v.  Hing- 
ley,  32  Ore.  440. 

The  Illinois  courts  have  also  upheld  such  power  of  the  legislature. 
People  V.  English,  139  III.  631  ;  Plummer  v.  Yost,  144  111.  68  ;  Acker- 
man  V.  Henck,  147  111.  514  ;  Dorsey  v.  Brigham,  177  111.  256  ;  Daven- 
port V.  Drainage  Com.,  25  111.  App.  92  ;  People  v.  Welsh,  70  111.  App. 
641  ;  People  v.  Nelson,   133  111.  565. 

These  Illinois  cases  sustain  the  power  of  the  legislature  to  extend 
the  suffrage  to  women  in  the  election  of  officers  not  named  in  the 
constitution. 

Not  only  have  our  courts  upheld  such  power  of  the  legislature.-  but 
the  legislature  continues  to  exercise  such  power,  and  the  persons  named 
by  the  legislature  continue  to  vote,  without  question,  for  such  officials. 

Some  of  the  Illinois  decisions  refer  to  the  extension  of  the  limited 
school  suffrage  to  Illinois  women  by  the  law  of  1891.     Others  refer  to 


i8o2  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

the  drainage  act  of  1885  and  1880.  The  drainage  act  of  1885  provides 
that  adult  owners  of  land  shall  petition  for  the  drainage  district,  and 
that  every  adult  owner  of  land  shall  be  a  voter.  Under  this  law 
women  petition  and  vote  ;  and  bonds  issued  by  these  districts,  organ- 
ized by  the  help  of  women's  votes,  are  held  good  in  commercial  circles 
and  by  our  courts,  Davenport  v.  Drainage  Commissioners,  25 
111.  App.  92.  The  legislature,  by  the  sanitary  district  act  of 
1889,  provided  a  modified  system  of  cumulative  voting,  whereby  the 
elector  must  vote  for  five-ninths  of  the  candidates  for  positions  as 
sanitary  district  trustees.  This  method  was  uot  known  to  the  Con- 
stitution. The  validity  of  this  act  was  established  by  our  Supreme 
Court  in  Wilson  v.  Board  of  Trustees,  133  111.  443.  The  legality  of 
such  measures  is  therefore  well  settled  in  Illinois. 

Among  the  twenty-five  or  more  states  where  school  suffrage  la 
allowed    to    women    they    often    also    vote    on    propositions    affecting 

schools. 

Some  states,  like  Iowa,  Michigan,  Montana,  Kansas,  and  Louisiana, 
allow  women  to  vote  on  all  matters  relating  to  bond  issues  and  taxes. 
Such  rights  have  also  been  allowed  women  taxpayers  in  New  York 
towns  and  villages  and  in  several  municipalities  of  Delaware  and 
South  Carolina.  Pennsylvania  women,  by  petitioning  for  or  against 
local  improvements,  have  practically  a  voter's  privilege.  Kansas  passed 
a  municipal  suffrage  bill  in  1887. 

It  is  true  that  in  many  of  the  states  complete  suffrage  for  women 
can  only  be  secured  through  the  constitution.  Thus  it  was  that 
women  in  Wyoming,  Colorado,  Utah,  Idaho,  Washington,  and  Califor- 
nia gained  all  the  voting  privileges  accorded  men.  So  although  full 
suffrase  can  only  come  to  Illinois  women  through  the  constitution, 
the  present  bill  gives  them  great  power. 

When  the  Charter  Convention  of  Chicago  was  asked  to  approve 
municipal  suffrage  for  Chicago  women,  opinions  were  submitted  by 
some  of  Chicago's  leading  lawyers  and  jurists  stating  that  the  legis- 
lature had  such  power.  Among  those  making  such  statements  were 
Philip  Stein,  John  Barton  Payne,  Gwynn  Garnett,  S.  S.  Gregory, 
Wallace  Heckman,  Clarence  S.  Darrow,  Eugene  E.  Trussing,  John  C. 
Richberg,  and  Frank  H.  McCulloch. 

The  Law  Committee,  of  which  John  P.  Wilson  was  chairman, 
reported  after  argument  that  the  legislature  did  have  such  power." 

— Catherine  Waugh  McCulloch. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 


1803 


PROCEDURE  FOR  CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENT 


Must     pass     one 

Must     pass     two 

Must  have  a  ma- 

Must have  a  ma- 

I egislature. 

Legislatures. 

jority    on    the 

jority    of    all 

ame  n  d  m  e  n  t 

votes    cast    at 

only  when  sub- 

the election. 

mitted    to    the 

voters. 

Alabama 

Connecticut 

Alabama 

Illinois 

Alaskai 

Delaware^ 

Arkansas* 

Minnesota 

Arkansas 

Indiana 

Connecticut 

Mississippi 

Florida^ 

Iowa 

Delaware 

Nebraska 

Georgia* 

Mass." 

Florida 

New  Hampshire* 

Illinois 

Nevada 

Indiana 

New   Jersey 

Kentucky 

New   Jersey* 

Iowa 

Rhode  Island 

Louisiana 

New    York* 

Kentucky 

Maine 

No.  Dakota 

Louisiana 

Maryland 

Pennsylvania 

Maine 

Michigan 

Rhode'  Island* 

Maryland 

Minnesota 

Tennessee 

Massachusetts 

Mississippi 

Vermont 

Michigan 

Missouri" 

Virginia 

Missouri^ 

Montana 

Wisconsin 

Montana 

Nebraska 

Nevada" 

New  Mexico 

New  Jersey 

No.  Carolina 

New  York 

Ohio 

No.  Carolina 

Oklahoma 

Ohio 

So.  Carolina" 

Oklahoma^ 

So.   Dakota 

Pennsylvania" 

Texas 

So.  Carolina" 

W.  Virginia 

So.  Dakota" 

Tennessee" 

Texas 

Vermont' 

Virginia' 

W.   Virginia 

Wisconsin 

1  Constitutional   convention   possible  at  any  time. 

2  Does  not  have  to  be  submitted  to  the  voters.       > 

*  Legislature   meets   annually. 

*  If  submitted  by  petition.     If  submitted  by  legislature,  majority  of 
all  votes  cast  at  election. 

=  If  submitted  by  legislature.     If  submitted  by  petition,  majority  of 
all   votes   cast   at  "election. 

"Constitutional   convention  possible  at  any  time. 

'  Constitution   may  be  amended  only  once  in   10  years. 

8  Constitution  may  be  amended  only  once  in  7  years. 


SUFFRAGE 

CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENTS 

Amendment 

introduced 

in  1913? 

Can  it  be 
introduced 
by  initiative 

petition? 

Must  it  pass 
one  or  two 
Legislatures? 

How  large  a  vote  must  it 
receive  in  the  Legislature? 

*1    Alabama 

No. 
Yes. 

Yea. 

Yes,  8%. 

One. 
One. 

One. 

i  in  each  House. 

2    Alaska     

Majority  in  each  House. 

3.  Arkansas 

Majority  in  each  House. 

4.  Connecticut 

5.  Delaware 

Yes. 
Yes. 

Two. 
Two. 

Majority  representatives 
first  time;  f  in  each 
House  second  time. 

1  in  each  House. 

6.  Florida 

Yes. 

Yes. 

One. 
One. 

I  in  each  House. 

§  in  each  House. 

8   Hawaii   

See  last  col- 
umn. 
Yes. 

Yes. 
Yes. 

No. 

One. 

Two. 
Two. 

One. 

0    Illinois   

J  in  each  House. 

10.  Indiana 

Majority  in  each  House. 

11.  Iowa 

Majority  in  each  House. 

tl2.  Kentucky 

§  in  each  House. 

tl3.  Louisiana 

No. 

One. 

1  in  each  House. 

14.  Maine 

Yes. 
No. 

Yes. 

One. 
One. 

f  concurrent  vote  in  both 

tl5.  Maryland 

Houses. 
1  in  each  House. 

16.  Massachusetts 

17.  Michigan 

Yes. 
Yes. 

Two. 

One. 

Majority   in   the  Senate. 
f  those  present  in  House 
§  in  each  House. 

18.  Minnesota 

Yes. 

One. 

Majority  in  each  House. 

tl9.  Mississippi 

No. 

One. 

1  in  each  House. 

20.  Missouri 

21.  Montana 

Yes. 
Yes. 

Yes.      8% 
in  at  least 
i  of  Con- 
gressional 
Districts. 
Yes. 

One. 
One. 

Majority  in  each  House. 
f  in  each  House. 

*  Next  session  1914. 
t  Next  session  1914. 


1804 


SUFFRAGE   CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENTS 


How  often 

does  the 

Legislature 

meet? 

What  is  the 
earliest  election 
at  which  it  could 

be  submitted? 

How  large  a  vote 

must  it  receive 

at  election? 

Constitutional  Enactments. 

Quadrenni- 

Nov. 3.  1916. 

Majority    on 

amend- 

ally. 

ment. 

Biennially. 

Does  not  have 
to  be  submits 
ted  to  voters. 

Amendment  becomes  law  by  vote 
of  the  territorial  legislature  if 
approved  by  Congress. 

Biennially. 

Defeated  in 

Majority    on 

amend- 

If  submitted  by  the  Legislature,  it 

House  1913. 

ment.  if  submitted  by 

must  have  a  majority  of  all  votes 

Passed     Senate 

petition. 

cast  at  election. 

1912.    19-2. 

Biennially. 

Defeated  in 
House  1913. 

Majority    on 
ment. 

amend- 

Biennially. 

See  last  column. 

Defeated  in 
House  and  Sen- 
ate 1913. 

Amendment  becomes  law  by  vote 
of  Legislature.  Does  not  have  to 
be  submitted  to  voters. 

Biennially. 

Defeated  in 

Majority    on 

amend- 

Constitutional  convention  may  be 

House  and  Sen- 

ment. 

held  whenever  voted  by  §  in  each 

ate  1913. 

House,  and  approved  by  the 
majority  of  electors. 

Annually. 

Majority    on 
ment. 

amend- 

Constitutional  convention  may  be 
held  whenever  voted  by  |  in  each 
House. 

The  consent  of  Congress  is  neces- 

sary to  an  enfranchising  act. 

Biennially, 

Majority  of  votes 

Only    one    amendment     may    be 

cast  at  election. 

submitted   at  a   time,   and   the 

same  one  not  oftener  than  once 

in  four  years. 

Biennially. 

Killed  in  com- 
mittee 1913. 

Majority    on 
ment. 

amend- 

Biennially. 

Nov.3,  1916.  or 
when  prescribed 
by   the   Legis- 
lature. 

Majority    on 
ment. 

amend- 

Biennially. 

Nov.  1915. 

Majority    on 
ment. 

amend- 

Only  two  amendments  may  be  sub- 
mitted at  a  time,  and  the  same 
one  not  oftener  than  once  in  5 
years. 

Biennially. 

Apr.  1916. 

Majority    on 
ment. 

amend- 

Biennially. 

Majority    on 
ment. 

amend- 

Biennially. 

Nov.  1914. 

Majority    on 
ments. 

amend- 

Annually. 

Defeated  1913. 
Passed  House. 

Majority    on 
ment. 

amend- 

Biennially. 

Defeated     1913 

Majority    on 

amend- 

Michigan  undoubtedly  carried  in 

at  election. 

ment. 

Nov.  1912,  but  was  counted  out. 

Biennially. 

Defeated  1913. 

Majority  votes  cast  at 

Passed  House 

election. 

Biennially. 

Nov.  1915. 

Majority  of  votes  cast 

at  election. 

Biennially. 

Defeated  1913. 

Majority    on 

aroend- 

If  submitted  by  petition,  must  have 

ment,  if  submitted  by 

majority  of  al  votes  cast  at  elec- 

Legislatiu-e. 

tion.  Constitutional  convention 
possible  at  any  time. 

Biennially. 

Nov.  1914. 

Majority    on 
ment. 

amend- 

Not  more  than  three  amendmenta 
can  be  submitted  at  any  election. 

1805 


SUFFRAGE 

CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENTS 

Amendment 

introduced 

in  19137 

Can  it  be 
introduced 
by  initiative 

petition? 

Must  it  pass 
one  or  two 
Legislatures? 

How  large  a  vote  must  it 
receive  in  the  Legislature? 

22.  Nebraska 

Yes. 

Yes,  15%. 

One. 

i  in  each  House. 

23.  Nevada 

Yes 

Yes 

Two 

Majority  in  each  House. 

*24.  New  Hampshire . 

No. 

25.  New  Jersey 

Yes. 

Two. 

Majority  in  each  Hoase. 

26.  New  Mexico 

Yes. 

Yea. 

One. 

1  in  each  House. 

27.  New  York 

Yes. 

Two. 

Majority  in  each  House. 

28.  North  Carolina... 

Yes. 

One. 

§  in  each  House. 

29.  North  Dakota.... 

Yes. 

Yes. 

Two. 

Majority  in  each  House. 

30.  Ohio 

Yes. 

Yes. 

One. 

I  in  each  House. 

31.  Oklahoma 

Yes. 

Yes. 

15%. 

One. 

Majority  in  each  House. 
J  vote  would  secure  a 
special  election. 

32.  Pemisylvania 

Yes. 

Two. 

Majority  in  each  House. 

33.  Rhode  Island 

Yes. 

Two. 

Majority  in  each  House. 

34.  South  Carolina . . . 

Yes. 

One. 

f  in  each  House. 

35.  South  Dakota.... 

Yes. 

Yes. 

One. 

Majority  in  each  House. 

36.  Tennessee 

Yes. 

Two. 

3  in  each  House. 

37.  Texas 

Yes. 

No. 
No. 

One. 

Two. 
Two. 

1  in  each  House. 

t38.  Vermont 

39.  Virginia 

House  majority,  Senate  f , 
1st  time;  majority  in 
each  House  2nd  time. 

Majority  in  each  House. 

40.  West  Virginia .... 

41.  Wisconsin 

Yes. 
Yes. 

One. 
Two. 

?  in  each  House. 
Majority  in  each  House. 

*  Constitution  amended  by  convention  only  once  in  7  years  if  approved  by  voters. 
t  Not  until  1920,  except  for  partial  suffrage. 

1806 


SUFFRAGE   CONSTITUTIONAL   AMENDMENTS 


How  often 
does  the 

WTiat  is  the 
earliest  election 

How  large 

i  vote 

Legislature 
meet? 

at  which  it  could 
be  submitted? 

must  it  receive 
at  election? 

Biennially. 

Defeated  1913. 

Majority  of  : 

ill  votes 

cast  at  election. 

Biennially. 

Nov.  1914. 

Majority    on 
ment. 

amend- 

Biennially. 

Nov.  1920. 

3  of  all  votes  cast. 

Annually. 

Nov.  1914. 

Majority    on 
ment. 

amend- 

Biennially. 

As  prescribed  by 

1  of  all  voting  in  the 

Legislature. 

whole  State. 

and  at 

least  1  of  all 

I'oting  in 

each  county. 

Annually. 

1915. 

Majority    on 
ment. 

amend- 

Biennially. 

Majority    on 
ment. 

amend- 

Biennially. 

1914. 

Majority    on 
ment. 

amend- 

Biennially. 

Majority    on 

amend- 

ment  if  by 

petition. 

Majority  of  all  votes 

cast  at  election  if  sub- 

mitted by  Legislature. 

Biennially. 

Majority    on 

amend- 

ment  if  submitted  by 

Legislature. 

Vlajority 

of  all   votes 

cast   at 

election  if  submitted 

by  Legislature. 

Biennially. 

As  prescribed  by 

Majority    on 

amend- 

Legislature. 

ment. 

Annually. 

Town  and  ward 

§  of  those  voting. 

elections  1914. 

Annually. 

Majority    on 
ment. 

amend- 

Biennially. 

Nov.  1914. 

Majority    on 
ment. 

amend- 

Biennially. 

Majority    on 

amend- 

• 

ment. 

Biennially. 

Defeated  1913. 

Majority    on 

amend- 

Passed  House. 

ment. 

Biennially. 

As  prescribed  by 

Majority    on 

amend- 

the  Legislature. 

ment. 

Biennially. 

Nov.  1915. 

Majority    on 
ment. 

amend- 

Biennially. 

Nov.  1916. 

Biennially. 

.\s  prescribed  by 

Majority  of  v 

otes  cast 

Legislature.  Bill 

at  election. 

passed.  Vetoed. 

(1913) 

Constitutional  Enactments. 


If  submitted  by  petition,  amend- 
ment must  receive  at  least  35', ;.  of 
total  vote  cast  at  election. 

Initiative   petition    10'"ci   filed   30 
days   before   Legislature   meets, 
acted  on  in  40  days,  submitted  at 
next     election.       Constitutional" 
convention  possible  any  time. 

Legislature  can  extend  presidential 
and  municipal  suffrage  to  women 
without  amendment. 

No  amendment  may  be  submitted 
oftener  than  once  in  five  years. 


3^  petition  possible  if  filed  10  days 
before  Legislature  meets.  If 
passed  it  is  subject  to  referendum. 
If  not,  3'"c  more  signatures  will 
secure  submission. 

Any  amendment  submitted  by 
petition  may  not  be  voted  on 
oftener  than  once  in  3  years.  If 
defeated,  it  must  have  a  25% 
petition  for  resubmission. 


Constitutional  convention  may  be 
held  whenever  approved  by  f 
vote  in  Legislature  and  majority 
voting  at  next  election  of  repre- 
sentatives. 

Constitutional  convention  any  time 
if  approved  by  §  vote  in  Legis- 
lature and  majority  voting  at 
next  election  of  legislators. 

Constitutional  convention  in  1914. 

There  is  some  authority  for  the 
claim  that  women  can  be  en- 
franchised by  the  act  of  Legisla- 
ture alone. 

Constititution  may  be   amended 
only  once  in  10  years. 


1807 


i8o8  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

EQUAL   SUFFRAGE   AND    CONGRESS 

The  form  of  government  of  the  United  States  is  based  on 
the  Constitution  of  September  17,  1787,  to  which  ten  amend- 
ments were  added  December  15,  1791;  an  eleventh  amend- 
ment, January  8,  1798;  a  twelfth  amendment,  September  25, 
1804;  a  thirteenth  amendment.  December  18,  1865;  a  four- 
teenth amendment,  July  28,  1868,  and  a  fifteenth  amendment, 
March  30,  1870. 

The  fifteenth  amendment  granted  the  elective  franchise  to 
the  negro.  The  Congressional  Committee  of  the  National 
American  Woman's  Suffrage  Association  has  this  year  (1913) 
introduced  a  Federal  Constitutional  Amendment  proposing 
the  full  elective  franchise  for  women.  If  this  amendment 
should  pass,  and  be  ratified  by  three-fourths  of  the  States, 
the  women  of  the  United  States  would  then  have  the  full 
elective  franchise.  This  amendment  would  become  the 
sixteenth  amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States. 

Equal  suffrage  States  now  control  84  of  the  532  electoral 
votes  in  the  Electoral  College.  Illinois  added  29  to  the 
electoral  voting  power  of  free  States.  Suffrage  States  con- 
trol one-sixth  of  the  electoral  vote  for  president. 

The  Senate  of  the  United  States  numbers  96  members. 
One-fifth   of  the   Senate   comes   from   equal   suffrage   States. 

The  House  of  Representatives  numbers  436  members. 
One-seventh  of  the  House  comes  from  equal  suffrage  States. 

The  Electoral  College  requires  that  each  State  choose  a 
number  of  electors  equal  to  the  number  of  Senators  and 
Representatives  to  which  the  State  is  entitled  in  Congress. 
The  number  of  members  to  which  each  State  is  entitled  is 
determined  by  the  census  taken  every  ten  years.  By  the 
Apportionment  Act  consequent  on  the  census  of  1910,  there 
is  one  Representative  for  every  240.415  persons.  The  fol- 
lowing table  shows  the  distribution  of  the  apportionment  of 
Representatives: 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 


1809 


Alabama 10 

Arizona 1 

Arkansas    7 

California     11 

Colorado    4 

Connecticut  5 

Delaware    1 

Florida    4 

Georgia 12 

Idaho 2 

Illinois    27 

Indiana   13 

Iowa    11 

Kansas    ; 8 

Kentucky   11 

Louisiana  8 

Maine    4 

Maryland    6 

Massachusetts    16 

Michigan    13 

Minnesota    10 

Mississippi  8 

Missouri 16 

Montana 2 

Nebraska    6 


Nevada    1 

New  Hampshire    2 

New  Jersey  12 

New  Mexico 2 

New  York  43 

North   Carolina    10 

North   Dakota    3 

Ohio    22 

Oklahoma    8 

Oregon   3 

Pennsylvania    36 

Rhode  Island   3 

South  Carolina 3 

South  Dakota 7 

Tennessee    10 

Texas    18 

Utah    2 

Vermont 2 

Virginia    10 

Washington    5 

West  Virginia    6 

Wisconsin    11 

Wyoming 1 

Total 436 


♦LEGAL  STATUS  OF  MOTHERS  IN  THE  GUARDIAN- 
SHIP OF  CHILDREN 
States  wherein  the  father  has  the  right  to  will  away 
guardianship  from  the  mother.  In  these  States,  the  father's 
sole  power  of  guardianship  enables  him  to  will  away  the 
custody  of  an  unborn  child: 

1.  Delaware  (Rev.  St  1893,  p.  713,  Sec.  8). 

2.  Florida  (Statutes  1906,  p.  1027,  Sec.  2086). 

3.  Georgia   (Code  of   1911,   Sec.  3033). 

4.  Maryland   (Public  Statutes,   1904,  Vol.  2,  p.  2013,  Sec. 

179.  See  also  p.  2003  and  Sees.  145  and  147). 

*  From  "Guardianship  of  Children,"  by  Catherine  Waugh  McCuUoch. 
Reprinted  from  "Chicago  Legal  News,"  Jan.  12,  1912. 


i8io  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

5.     South  Carolina  (Code  1902,  Sec.  2689). 

6.  Tennessee  (Code  1896,  Sec.  4258,  Sec.  4251). 

7.  Virginia  (Sec.  2597,  Code  1904). 

States  where  the  father  is  sole  guardian  during  his  lifetime, 
and  after  his  death  the  surviving  mother  is  sole  guardian, 
either  conditionally  or  unconditionally: 

1.  Alabama  (Code  of  1907,  Sec.  4339,  in  case  of  a  girl  or 
boy  under  fourteen  by  implication). 

2.  Arizona  (Revised  Statutes  1901,  Sec.  1958). 

3.  Arkansas  (Kirby's  Digest  1904,  p.  855,  Sec.  3759). 

4.  Idaho  (Revised  Code  1908,  Sec.  5774). 

5.  Indiana  (Burns  Annotated  Statutes  1908,  Sec.  3065). 

6.  Louisiana  (R.  C.  C,  Art.  216  and  250). 

7.  Michigan  (Vol.  Ill,  p.  2680  (8701),  Sec.  5). 

8.  Mississippi  (Code  1906,  Sec.  2401)  by  implication. 

9.  Montana  (Rev.  Code  1907,  Sec.  7757). 

10.  Nevada  (Compiled  Laws  1900,  Sec.  563). 

11.  New  Jersey  (Gen'l  Statutes  1895,  p.  1615,  Sec.  1). 

12.  New  Mexico  (Compiled  Laws  1897,  Sec.  1434  to  1471). 

13.  North  Carolina  (Pell's  Revisal,  Sec.  1762)  if  father 
have  not  appointed  with  her  consent. 

14.  North  Dakota  (Revised  Code  1905,  Sec.  8240). 

15.  Ohio  (General  Code  1910,  Sec.  10928). 

16.  Oklahoma   (Compiled  Laws   1909,   Sec.   54761). 

17.  Rhode  Island  (Gen'l  Laws  1909,  p.  1170,  Sec.  5). 

18.  South  Dakota  (Compiled  Laws  1910,  Vol.  2,  p.  523, 
Sec.  370). 

19.  South  Carolina  (Code  1902,  Sec.  2689). 

20.  Texas  (Civil  Code  1897,  Art.  2577). 

21.  Vermont  (Public  Statutes  1906,  Sec.  3155). 

22.  West  Virginia  (Code  1906,  Sec.  3220). 

23.  Wisconsin  (Supplement  1906,  p.  1282,  Sec.  3964). 

24.  Wyoming  (Compiled  Statutes  1910,  Sec.  5739). 


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WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1813 

*States  which  allow  the  surviving  mother  to  be  sole  guar- 
dian, providing  she  remains  a  widow: 

1.  Arizona  (Revised  Statutes,  1901,  Sec.  1958). 

2.  Georgia  (Code  1911,  Sec.  3034)  "If  a  widow." 

3.  New  Jersey  (Gen'I  Statutes,  1895,  p.  1615,  Sec.  2)  "be- 
ing a  widow." 

4.  North  Dakota  (Revised  Code  1905,  Sec.  8240). 

5.  Oklahoma  (Compiled  Laws  of  1909,  Sec.  5476). 

6.  South   Dakota    (Compiled   Laws,    1910,   Vol.  2,   p.   423, 
Sec.  370). 

7.  Wisconsin  (p.  1282,  Supplement,  1906,  Sec.  3964). 

States  in  which  the  father  is  sole  guardian  that  allow  the 
mother  a  voice  in  the  adoption  of  a  child: 

1.  Florida   (Statutes   1906,   Sec.  2639). 

2.  Mississippi  (If  father  has  abandoned  child.  Code  1906, 
Sec.  542). 

3.  Wisconsin  (Supplement  1906,  p.  1282,  Sec.  3964). 

States  including  District  of  Columbia  which  make  parents 
joint  guardians  of  their  children — the  honor  roll: 

1.  California  (1913). 

2.  Colorado  (Rev.  Stat.  1908,  Sec.  2912). 

3.  Connecticut  (Gen'I  Stat.  1902,  Sec.  206). 

4.  District  of  Columbia  (Code  1911,  Sec.  1123). 

5.  Illinois  (Rev.  Stat.  Chap.  64,  Sec.  4). 

6.  Iowa  (Annotated  Code  1897,  Sec.  3192). 

7.  Kansas  (Gen'I  Stat.  1909,  Sec.  3966). 

8.  Kentucky  (Acts  1910,  p.  93). 

9.  Maine  (Rev.  Stat.  1903,  p.  617,  Chap.  69,  Sec.  2). 

10.  Massachusetts   (Snpp.   1902-1908,  p.   1277,   Chap.    145). 

11.  Minnesota   (Rev.  Laws   1905,   Sec.  3834). 

12.  Missouri  (1913). 

13.  Nebraska  (Cabby's  Comp.  Stat.  1909,  Sec.  5376). 

•  No  state  takes  the  guardianship  away  from  a  widower  upon  his 
remarriage. 


i8i4  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

14.  New  Hampshire  (Laws  1911,  p.  110,  Chap.  104). 

15.  New  York  (Wadhams  Const.  Laws  1909,  p.  550, 
Sec.  81). 

16.  Oregon   (Sec.  2,  Married  Woman's  Act  1880). 

17.  Pennsylvania  (Pepper  &  Laws  Digest  1907,  p.  4875, 
Sec.  23). 

18.  Utah  (1913). 

19.  Washington  (Remington  &  Ballinger's  Code,  Vol.  2, 
Sec.  5932). 

Idaho  Statutes  do  not  give  technical  joint  guardianship, 
but  for  practical  utility  Idaho  might  well  be  numbered  with 
the  joint  guardianship  States. 


FACTS  CONCERNING  THE  FULL  SUFFRAGE  STATES 

WYOMING 

Males    Females     Total 
Population,  1910  91,670      54,295      152,056 

Full  equal  suffrage  and  eligibility  for  women  1869 

Number  of  women  eligible  to  vote  34,000 

Percentage  who  vote  80  to  90 

Women  in  Official  Positions.  Women  are  eligible  to  all 
positions.  They  have  served  as  members  of  the  Legislature, 
as  State  Superintendents  of  Schools,  as  County  Clerks,  Rec- 
orders, Treasurers,  Justices  of  the  Peace,  and  members  of 
the  House  of  Representatives. 

Legislation.  The  following  laws*  passed  since  1869  may 
be  taken  as  those  in  which  women  may  be  considered 
specially  interested: 

Acts  providing  that  men  and  women  teachers  shall  receive  equal 
pay  when  equally  qualified  (Revised  Statutes  of  Wyoming,  Section 
614)  ;  raising  the  age  of  protection  for  girls  to  18  (same.  Section 
4964)  ;  making  child  neglect,  abuse,  or  cruelty  illegal  (same.  Section 
2281)  ;  forbidding  the  employment  of  boys  under  14  or  girls  of  any 
age  in  mines,  or  of  children  under  14  in  public  exhibitions  (same. 
Section  80)  ;  making  it  unlawful  to  sell  or  give  cigarettes,  liquor, 
or  tobacco  to  persons  under  16  (Laws  of  1895,  Chapter  46,  Section  4)  ; 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1815 

establishing  free  public  kindergarten  (same,  Chapter  50,  Section  1)  ; 
forbidding  the  adulteration  of  candy   (Laws  of  1897,  Chapter  39).* 

Making  it  illegal  to  license  gambling  (Laws  of  1901,  Chapter  65, 
page  68)  ;  and  providing  for  the  care  and  custody  of  deserted  or 
orphan  children,  or  children  of  infirm,  indigent,  or  incompetent  per- 
sons  (Laws  of  1903,  Chapter  106,  page  134). 

The  "  Revised  Statutes  of  Wyoming,  1899,"  also  include  the  fol- 
lowing : 

Sec.  5532.  The  County  Commissioners  may  sue  the  reputed  father 
of  a  bastard  if  it  becomes  chargeable ;  Sec.  5065  and  5066.  Prosti- 
tutes and  those  consorting  with  them  are  made  liable  to  fine  and 
imprisonment ;  Sec.  2106.  A  married  woman,  if  her  husband  drinks 
or  gambles,  so  that  she  and  her  family  arc  deprived  of  the  neces- 
saries of  life,  may  have  a  notice  served  "to  the  keepers  of  the  houses 
where  he  drinks  and  gambles  forbidding  them  to  serve  him ;  4864, 
mothers  may  inherit  from  their  illegitimate  children ;  4862,  subse- 
quent marriage  of  parents  legitimatizes  a  child  ;  4858,  inheritance  as 
between   husband   and  wife   is   the   same. 

The  Compiled  Statutes,  1910,  Sec.  5739,  provides  that  a  surviving 
mother,  whether  re-married  or  not,  may  be  the  guardian  of  her  child. 
Here  too  there  is  compulsory  education  with  instruction  in  physiology 
and  hygiene  up  to  the  age  of  16,  and  tobacco  is  forbidden  to  children 
under  18,  and  women  physicians  and  matrons  are  placed  in  certain 
institutions   having  women  and  children   in  custody. 

1911  LAWS.- — 1.  A  measure  providing  for  the  submission  to  the 
people  of  a  constitutional  amendment  providing  for  the  initiative  and 
referendum.  2.  Provision  for  the  adoption  by  the  people  at  a  special 
election  in  cities  of  8,000  or  over  of  a  commission  form  of  govern- 
ment. 3.  A  corrupt  practice  act.  limiting  the  candidate's  campaign 
expenses  and  compelling  a  sworn  statement  of  all  expenses,  during 
both  the  primary  and  thp  general  election.  4.  Prescribing  a  penalty 
of  imprisonment  for  assault  or  assault  and  battery  upon  a  female  with 
the  intent  to  commit  the  crime  of  rape.  5.  A  measure  providing  for 
the  establishment  of  a  state  industrial  school  for  juvenile  offenders. 


*  This   act   is    incorporated   in   a    Pure   Food   Bill,    covering  drinks, 
drugs,  ajid  illuminating  oils.     Laws  of  1903,   Chapter  82,  page  102. 

COLORADO 

Males  Females         Total 

Population,  1910                               430,697  368,327        799,024 

School  suffrage  1876 

Full  equal  suffrage  and  eligibility  1893 

Number  of  women  eligible  to  vote  160,000 

Percentage  who  vote  75  to  85 

Number  of  Women  Voting.  No  full  official  returns  are 
made  giving  the  male  and  female  votes  separately.  The 
following  official  figures  of  a  large  number  of  the  more 
populous  cities  and  counties  were  supplied  by  the  then 
Governor:  "Precinct  14,  Ward  8,  is  a  well-to-do  residential 
district  with  a  large  percentage  of  professional  people;  Pre- 

14 


i8i6 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 


cinct  7,  Ward  10,  is  a  wealthy  fashionable  neighborhood; 
and  Precinct  1,  Ward  15,  is  an  average  section  in  a  working 
class  district." 


District. 

Denver    , 

Counties 
Cities 


Elections  of  1906 


Population. 


Men. 
66,592 
.131,208 
,    17,314 


Women. 

67,267 
118,124 

15,654 


Registered. 

Men.  Women. 
32,006  25,109 
56,459  40,309 
12,086  9,333 


Percentage  of 

Voting.  Registered 

wlio  voted. 

Men.     Women.  Men.   Worn. 

25,230  18,741      78.8  74.5 

54,237  33,539     96      83.2 

9,739      6,688     77       68.6 


Election  of  1908  (Denver) 

Registered.  Voting. 

Men.    Women.  Men.    Women. 

Wards.    Precinct    14..         369          348  300          299 

Waid  10,  Precinct     7..         176          203  141           176 

Ward  14,  Precinct     1 . .         262          267  221          244 

Denver    City     41,540     35,620  36,891     29,084 


Percentage  of 
Registered 
wLio  voted. 
Men.  Worn. 
81.3  85.8 
80.1  86.7 
84.3  91.3 
88.8        81.6 


A  curious  accusation  has  been  brought  against  the  woman 
vote  in  Colorado,  namely,  that  the  vote  of  the  "bad  women" 
is  detrimental.  Figures  go  to  show  that  this  vote  does  not 
amount  to  more  than  one-third  of  one  per  cent  of  the 
women's  vote,  so  it  is  absurd  to  suggest  that  it  counter- 
balances that  of  the  other  women. 

Women  in  Official  Positions.  Women  are  eligible  to  all 
official  positions.  During  the  first  fifteen  years  of  enfran- 
chisement nine  had  been  elected  to  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives. Other  positions  occupied  by  women  are  those  of 
magistrates,  sheriffs,  jurymen,  city  treasurers,  clerks,  audit- 
ors, aldermen,  etc.,  etc.  To  the  House  of  Representatives 
of  1911  four  women  were  elected,  the  largest  number  so  far 
to  have  sat  in  one  House.  At  the  State  election  of  1910,  ^ 
43  of  the  62  County  Superintendents  of  Schools  were  women. 
In  all,  sixty-three  women  were,  in  1910,  elected  to  offices  of 
power  and  responsibility.  At  the  1912  election  four  women 
were  elected  to  the  House  and  one,  for  the  first  time  in 
Colorado,  to  the  State  Senate. 

Legislation.  A  special  woman's  non-party  legislative  com- 
mittee, representative  of  the  important  women's  societies, 
passes  in  review  every  bill  and  intimates  to  the  Legislature 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1817 

whether  the  bill  is  endorsed  or  condemned  by  it.  The  fol- 
lowing laws  passed  between  1893  and  1908  may  be  taken  as 
illustrative  of  the  legislation  in  which  women  are  specially 
interested. 

"  Establishing  a  State  Industrial  Home  for  Girls,  three  of 
the  five  members  of  the  Board  of  Control  to  be  women 
(Laws  of  1897,  page  68);  Removing  the  emblems  from  the 
Australian  ballot — the  nearest  approach  to  adopting  an  edu- 
cational qualification  for  suffrage  (Laws  of  1899,  pages  177- 
178);  Establishing  the  indeterminate  sentence  for  prisoners 
(Same,  page  233);  Requiring  one  woman  physician  on  the 
board  of  the  Insane  Asylum  (Same,  page  259);  Establishing 
parental  or  truant  schools  (Laws  of  1891,  page  364);  Pro- 
viding for  the  care  of  feeble-minded  (Same,  page  177);  For 
tree  preservation  (Same,  page  186);  For  the  inspection  of 
private  eleemosynary  institutions  by  the  State  Board  of 
Charity  (Laws  of  1891,  page  364);  Requiring  in  the  public 
schools  lessons  in  the  humane  treatment  of  animals  (Same, 
page  362);  Making  the  Colorado  Humane  Society  a  State 
Bureau  of  Child  and  Animal  Protection  (Same,  page  191); 
Establishing  juvenile  courts  (Laws  of  1903,  page  179); 
Making  education  compulsory  for  all  children  between  the 
ages  of  8  and  16,  except  those  who  are  ill  or  who  are  taught 
at  home,  and  those  who  are  over  14  who  have  completed 
the  eighth  grade,  or  whose  parents  need  their  help  and  sup- 
port, and  those  children  who  must  support  themselves 
(Same,  page  418);  Making  father  and  mother  joint  heirs  of 
deceased  child  (Same,  page  469);  Providing  that  union  high 
schools  may  be  formed  by  uniting  school  districts  adjacent 
to  a  town  or  city  (Same,  page  425);  Establishing  a  State 
Traveling  Library  Commission,  to  consist  of  five  women 
from  the  State  Federation  of  Women's  Clubs,  appointed  by 
the  Governor  (Same,  page  252);  Providing  that  any  person 
employing  a  child  under  14  in  any  mine,  smelter,  mill,  fac- 
tory or  underground  works  shall  be  punished  by  imprison- 
ment in  addition  to  a  fine  (Same,  page  310);  Requiring  joint 
signature  of  husband  and  wife  to  every  chattel  mortgage, 
sales  of  household  goods  used  by  the  family,  or  conveyance 


i8i8  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

or  mortgage  of  a  homestead  (Same,  chapter  75,  page  153); 
Forbidding  children  of  16  and  under  to  work  more  than  six 
hours  a  day  in  any  mill,  factory,  store,  or  other  occupation 
that  may  be  deemed  unhealthful  (Same,  page  309);  Provid- 
ing "  that  no  woman  shall  work  more  than  eight  hours  a 
day  at  work  requiring  her  to  be  on  her  feet  (Laws  of  1903, 
page  310);  Making  it  a  criminal  offence  to  contribute  to  the 
delinquency  of  a  child  (Same,  page  298);  Making  it  a  mis- 
demeanor to  fail  to  support  aged  or  infirm  parents  (Same, 
chapter  148,  page  372);  Prohibiting  the  killing  of  doves 
except  in  August  (Same,  chapter  112,  page  232);  Abolishing 
the  binding  out  of  girls  committed  to  the  Industrial  School 
(Same,  chapter  115,  page  248)." 

Women  have  been  instrumental  in  securing  the  following 
laws  in  1909:  Providing  for  the  examination  of  the  eyes, 
ears,  teeth,  and  breathing  capacity  of  school  children:  De- 
claring the  School  for  the  Mute  and  Blind  an  educational 
institution,  thus  relieving  them  from  the  stigma  of  receiving 
public  charity;  a  Factory  Inspection  Bill,  requiring  three 
inspectors,  one  of  whom  must  be  a  woman;  Creating  a  State 
Board  of  Immigration;  Appropriating  Five  Thousand  Dol- 
lars for  the  free  distribution  of  diphtheria  antitoxin;  Creat- 
ing a  Home  for  the  Feeble-Minded  and  making  an  appro- 
priation therefor;  Authorizing  the  donation  of  State  lands 
for  State  charitable  or  philanthropic  institutions;  Validating 
the  wills  of  married  women;  Making  it  a  felony  to  live  on 
the  earnings  of  a  prostitute;  the  Teachers'  Pension  Act,  etc.; 
in  the  session  of  1910  laws  dealing  with  child  labor;  Raising 
the  age  of  delinquency  for  girls;  Compelling  a  man  to  sup- 
port his  wife  and  children;  Providing  teaching  of  the  adult 
blind;  Making  non-support  an  extraditable  offence;  pure 
food. 

In  addition  to  the  Acts  of  the  Legislature,  women  were 
instrumental  in  ensuring  the  places  of  drinking  fountains 
and  garbage  receptacles  in  the  streets;  forbidding  of  spit- 
ting in  public  places;  enforcing  child  labor  laws;  forbidding 
the  sale  of  liquor  to  minors  and  of  tobacco  to  persons 
under  16. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1819 


IDAHO 

Males  Females        Total 

Population,  1910                               185,546  140,048        325,594 

Full  equal  suffrage  and  eligibility  1896 

Number  of  women  eligible  68,000 

Percentage  who  vote  75  to  85 

In  1898,  40  per  cent  of  the  total  vote  was  cast  by  the 
women  and  three  were  elected  to  the  Legislature,  a  creditable 
result  in  a  State  where  men  so  greatly  out-number  women. 

Women  in  Official  Positions.  All  offices  are  open  to 
women  and  they  have  been  elected  to  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives and  to  various  county  and  city  offices.  In  1900  the 
Legislature  passed  a  bill  exempting  women  from  jury  service, 
but  this  was  vetoed  by  the  Governor,  in  response  to  a  protest 
from  the  women  themselves.  It  is  not  customary  for  women 
to  serve,  however,  except  in  special  cases. 

Legislation.  The  following  laws  are  among  those  passed 
since  the  granting  of  suft'rage: 

Law  making  gambling  illegal  (Idaho  Laws  of  1899,  page  389)  ; 
raising  age  of  protection  for  girls  to  18  (same,  page  167)  ;  estab- 
lishing libraries  and  reading  rooms,  and  authorizing  a  tax  for  their 
maintenance  (Code  of  1901,  Sec.  994)  ;  requiring  at  least  3  per  cent, 
of  school  fund  appropriated  each  year  to  be  applied  to  maintain  school 
libraries,  the  books  to  be  chosen  from  list  compiled  by  State  Board 
of  Education  (same,  Sec.  106.5)  :  establishing  a  State  Library  Com- 
mission, consisting  of  the  President  of  the  State  University,  the  State 
Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  the  Secretary  of  State  and  the 
Attorney  General  (Laws  of  1903;  House  Bill  164);  providing  for  a 
department  of  domestic  science  in  the  State  University  (same,  page 
433 :  Senate  Bill  110)  ;  and  for  a  course  of  lectures  on  domestic 
science  in  the  Academy  of  Idaho  (same,  page  51  ;  House  Bill  52)  ; 
estalilishing  an  Industrial  Reform  School  (same,  page  12  ;  House 
Bill  20)  :  A  Pure  Food  Act  (same,  page  95;  House  Bill  97)  ;  and 
giving  a  married  woman  the  same  right  to  control  and  dispose  of  her 
property  as  a  married  man    (same,  page   345:    Senate    Bill   35). 

A  series  of  bills  prepared  under  the  direction  of  the  State  Board 
of  Health,  to  prevent  the  sale  of  impure  food  and  drugs,  to  provide 
for  sanitary  conditions  in  all  places  where  food  products  are  prepared 
or  supplied  to  the  public,  and  to  care  for  the  public  health  in  other 
particulars  (1911).  A  pure  seed  law  and  other  measures  designed  to 
benefit  the  farmers    (1911). 


i820  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 


UTAH 


Males  Females         Total 

Population,  1910                               196,863  177,488        373,449 

Equal  suffrage  during  Territorial  Days  1870-1877 

Full  equal  suffrage  and  eligibility  1896 

Number  of  women  eligible  55  500 

Percentage  of  women  eligible  who  vote  85  to  90 

Women  in  Official  Positions.  Women  are  eligible  to  all 
State  offices.  One  woman  was  elected  to  the  first  State  / 
Senate  and  several  have  been  elected  to  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives. In  the  present  house  there  are  four  women. 
Women  have  been  appointed  in  considerable  numbers  as 
county  clerks,  treasurers,  recorders,  auditors,  assessors,  and 
county  superintendents  of  schools. 

_  Legislation.  Since  their  enfranchisement  Utah  women  have  aided 
in  securing  measures  providing  for  equal  pay  for  equal  work  for 
teachers  ;  raising  the  age  of  protection  for  young  girls  to  18  ;  estab- 
lishing free  public  libraries  in  cities  and  towns;  requiring  in  all 
schools  and  educational  institutions  supported  wholly  or  partly  by 
public  funds,  systematic  instruction  in  physiology  and  'hygiene    includ- 


i.  ,        "      ■       =•   -'   -   *-'   any   •"•""-^    IV. 

buy,  accept,  or  have  in  his  possession,  cigarettes,  tobacco,  opium  or 
any  other  narcotic ;  providing  for  the  protection  of  dependent 
neglected,  or  ill-treated  children,  and  for  the  punishment  of  the  per- 
sons responsible ;  requiring  the  establishment  of  kindergartens  in 
towns  of  a  specified  size ;  prohibiting  traffic  in  women  ;  prohibiting 
the  employment  of  children  in  certain  industries;  prohibiting  the 
employment  of  women  more  than  nine  hours  a  day  or  fifty-four  hours 
a  week  ;  providing  for  medical  examination  of  school  children  ;  author- 
izing boards  of  health  to  take  certain  steps  to  protect  the  public 
against  venereal  disease  ;  providing  for  sanitary  inspection  of  slaughter 
houses  and  other  places  where  foodstuffs  are  prepared  :  forcing  wife- 
deserters  to  pay  a  certain  sum  for  the  support  of  their  families  • 
giving  local  option  on  the  liquor  question.  Women  have  practically 
the  same  rights  over  their  independent  property  as  men. 

In  1911,  the  following  laws  were  passed:  Prevent  traffic  in  women- 
prohibiting  the  employment  of  any  child  under  14  years  of  age  in  any 
occupation  dangerous  to  physical  or  moral   welfare. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1821 

CALIFORNIA 

Male  Female  Total 

Population,  1910  1,322,978         1,054,571         2,377,549 

Full  equal  suffrage  and  eligibility  October  10th,  1911 

Number  of  women  eligible  670,967 

Percentage  of  women  eligible  who  vote  75  to  80 

Number  of  Women  Voting.  In  California,  there  are  125.5 
men  to  every  100  women,  and  figures  must  be  regarded  in 
that  light.  In  the  municipal  election  in  Los  Angeles,  1911, 
83,284  women  registered  in  less  than  a  month's  time.  One 
woman's  club  registered  over  17,000  women  in  less  than  ten 
daj's.  Ninety-five  per  cent  of  the  registered  women  voted. 
In  Sacramento  at  the  presidential  primary,  a  trifle  over  40 
per  cent  of  registered  women  voted. 

Report  of  Berkeley,  California,  City  Election,  April  26,  1913 

Total  registration  18,597 

Men  registered  9,936 — 53% 

Women  registered  8,661 — 46% 

Total  vote  8,576 

Men  voted  4,874—56% 

Women  voted  3,702^3% 

Percentage  of  registered  men  voting  49% 

Percentage  of  registered  women  voting  42.7% 

Percentage  of  total  registration  voting  46% 

In  16  out  of  Z2  precincts  of  the  city  practically  50  per  cent. 
or  more  of  the  registered  persons  are  women. 

In  8  precincts,  one  quarter  of  the  city,  women  cast  50  per 
cent,  or  more  of  the  vote. 

The  larger  women's  vote  was  cast  in  precincts  where  the 
prosperous  professional  and  business  people  reside. 

The  smaller  woman's  vote  was  cast  in  the  manufacturing 
and  laboring  section,  notably  along  the  water  front. 

The  average  woman's  vote  was  cast  in  the  precincts  where 
persons  of  modest  means,  clerks  and  mechanics,  live. 


i822  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

According  to  the  "California  Outlook"  the  total  registra- 
tion in  Los  Angeles,  qualified  for  the  municipal  election,  was 
171,025.  The  number  of  men  registered  was  97,186,  or  56.9 
per  cent,  of  the  total.  The  registration  of  the  women  footed 
up  to  73,839,  or  43.1  per  cent,  of  the  total. 

The  total  vote  was  89,831 — only  52.5  per  cent,  of  the  regis- 
tration. 

The  vote  by  men  was  52,731. 

The  vote  by  women  was  37,100. 

The  percentage  of  registered  men  voting  was  54.2. 

The  percentage  of  registered  women  voting  was  50.2. 

The  percentage  of  total  vote  cast  by  men  was  58.7. 

The  percentage  of  the  total  vote  cast  by  women  was  41.3. 


Legislation.  The  California  Legislature  fl913)  -was  tbe  first  to 
me(-t  sincH  women  have  had  the  ballot.  It  Is  said  to  have  made  a  finer 
record  in  the  way  of  advanced  legislation  desired  by  women  than  the 
Legislatures  of  the  past  25  years  put  together.  Here  is  a  list  of  its 
main  achievements  : 

The  Mothers'  Pension  Law.  granting  aid  to  needy  parents  in  order 
to  keep  the  children  at  home  rather  than  have  them  committed  to 
institutions. 

The  Health  Certificate  Law.  requirins-  a  certificate  of  freedom  from 
venereal  diseases  of  all  men,  before  obtaining  marriage  licenses. 

The  Minimum  Wase  Law.  creating  a  commission  to  investigate  the 
conditions  of  industry  of  women  and  children,  with  power  to  invoke 
a  minimum  wage  in  industries  paying  less  than  a  living  wage. 

The  Red  Light  Abatement  and  Injunction  Law.  placing  the  responsi- 
bility of  disorderly  houses  upon  thf  owners  and  lessees  rather  than 
upon  the  inmates,  and  forbidding  such  houses. 

The  Joint  Guardianship  Law,  giving  mothers  equal  rights  over  their 
minor  children. 

The  Juvenile  Court  Law,  separating  dependent  from  delinquent 
children. 

The  extension  of  the  Eight-hour  Law  for  Women  to  include  workers 
in  apartment   houses   and  nurses  in   training. 

The  Age  of  Consent  Law.  raising  the  age  from  16  to  18. 

The  State  Training  School  for  Girls,  providing  a  separate  institution 
for  girls,  with  the  most  approved  correctional  methods  and  thorough 
vocational  training. 

The  Teachers'  Pension  Law,  granting  pensions  of  $500  a  year  to  all 
teachers  who  have  been  in  service  30  years. 

The  Net  Container  Law,  specifying  that  packases  shall  show  the 
amount   of  net   contents. 

The  Weights  and  Measures  Law,  providing  for  a  complete  standard 
of  weights  and  measures  and  regular  inspection  of  dealers. 

The  Roberts  bill,  forbidding  the  destruction  of  anv  foodstuff  fit  for 
human  consumption.  (All  New  York  housekeepers  groaned  when  they 
read  of  cargoes  of  fish  being  deliberately  destroyed  in  order  to  keep 
the  price  up.j 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1823 

The  State  Civil  Service  Law,  bringing  practically  all  State  employees 
under   the   merit   service. 

The  creation  of  a  State  Housing  and  Immigration  Commission  to 
prepare  for  the  coming  of  Immigrants  with  the  opening  of  the  Panama 
Canal. 

Prison  Reform ;  all  sentences  except  for  murder  are  made  inde- 
terminate ;  straitjackets  and  cold  showers  are  prohibited,  and  arrange- 
ments are  made  for  the  payment  of  wages  to  State's  prison  convicts 
and  for  assistance  to  discharged  prisoners. 

The  Milk  Inspection   Law,  providing  for  strict  regulation  of  dairies. 

The  White  Slave  Law,  prohibiting  traffic  in  women  between  counties. 

The  Tuberculosis  Law,  providing  for  the  reporting  of  all  such  cases. 

Amendment  to  the  liquor  laws,  forbidding  the  sale  of  liquor  between 
2  and  6  a.  m. 

The  creation  of  a  commission  to  investigate  the  question  of  old-age 
pensions. 

The  Workman's  Compensation  Law,  requiring  compulsory  compensa- 
tion for  injuries,  and  establishing  a  system  of  State  industrial 
insurance. 

The  Water  Conservation  Law,  establishing  a  Water  Commission 
with  authority  over  all  water  in  the  State.  Conservation  is  a  subject 
in  which  the  women  of  California  have  taken  keen  interest. 

The  Psychopathic  Parole  I>aw,  providing  for  the  parole  of  persons 
mentally  abnormal  but  not  dangerously  insane,  under  the  custody  of 
psychopathic   parole   officers. 

The  Bilf  Board  Law,  limiting  billboards  to  ten  feet  in  height  and 
prohibiting  spite   fences  of  more  than   that   height. 

The  Bastardy  Law,  requiring  fathers  to  help  support  illegitimate 
children. 

A  law  providing  for  the  sterilization  of  inmates  of  insane  asylums 
and  certain  convicts. 

The  creation  of  mosquito  control  districts. 

The  requirement  of  the  wife's  signature  to  legalize  the  assignment 
of  a  man's  wages. 

The  amendment  to  the  Child  Labor  Law  raising  the  age  limit  of 
child  workers  from  twelve  to  fifteen. 

Mrs.  Seward  A.  Simons  says  in  The  Woman's  Bulletin  of  Los 
Anpeles:  "  "This  record  shows  in  the  most  concrete  form  possible 
why  women  need  the  ballot  and  how  they  use  their  power  for  the 
conservation  of  humanity  and  the  preservation  of  the  home." 

WASHINGTON 

Male  Female           Total 
Population,  1910                            658,663        483.327         1,141,990 
Suffrage  exercised  by  women  for  the  Territorial 

legislature  1883-1887 

School  suffrage  granted  to  women  1890 

Full  equal  suffrage  and  eligibility  1910 

Number  of  women  eligible  170,000 

Percentage  eligible  who  vote  85  to  95 

Women  in  Official  Positions.  Women  are  serving  as  mem- 
bers of  the  Legislature,  state  superintendent  of  schools,  presi- 
dential elector,  and  in  minor  offices. 


i824  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

Legislation.  The  following  laws  (1911  Legislature)  have 
been  largely  due  to  the  women  voters: 

An  eight  hour  bill  for  working  women,  excepting  those 
employed  in  fruit  and  fish  canneries;  providing  for  the  recall 
of  state  officers;  restoration  of  supreme  judgeships  to  direct 
primaries;  an  employers'  liability  bill,  providing  for  the 
compensation  of  injured  workmen  or  their  dependents.  This 
abolishes  the  doctrine  of  "contributory  negligence"  and  takes 
the  matter  of  -compensation  out  of  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
courts;  providing  for  the  commission  plan  of  government  for 
cities  of  from  2,500  to  20,000;  the  women's  protests  brought 
about  the  defeat  of  a  bill  legalizing  prize  fights. 

KANSAS 

Male  Female  Total 

Population,  1910  885.912        805,037         1,690,949 

Limited  school  suffrage  and  eligibility  for  women  1861 
Town  Council  and  Town  School  Board  suffrage  and 
eligibility  for  women  with  the  right  to  vote  on 

the  issue  of  bonds  for  school  purposes  1887 

Bond  suffrage  for  women  1903 
Full  equal  suffrage  and  eligibility  for  women     Nov.  5th,  1912 

Number  of  women  eligible,  about  400,000 

Votes  at  Municipal  Elections  in  Kansas 
Place.  1887.  1901.  1911. 

Men.   Women.   Men.   Women.   Men.  Women. 

253  cities    76,629  28,587 

Kansas    3,956  1.042  8,900  4,582 

Topeka    4,580  1,049  7,338  5,335      9,538      6,105 

Fort  Scott 1,273  425  1,969  1,270 

Leavenworth  ...  3,967  2,467  5,590  3,108 

Wichita 3,312  2,964 

Of  the  above  returns  those  for  the  253  cities  were  made  up 
from  official  returns.     Those  of  1911  are  official. 
Women   in    Official    Positions.     Fifty   women    have    been 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1825 

aldermen,  five  police  judges,  one  city  attorney.  In  1896,  a 
return  from  half  the  counties  showed  that  twenty  women 
were  county  superintendents  of  schools  and  554  were  serving 
on  school  boards.  By  1900,  about  twenty-five  women  had 
been  elected  mayors  of  smaller  towns;  in  several  cases  the 
whole  board  of  aldermen  were  women.  In  1910  forty-nine 
women  were  county  superintendents  of  schools. 


ARIZONA 

Male 

Female 

Total 

118,574 

85,780 

204,354 

Population,  1910 

School  Board  suffrage  and  eligibility  for  women  1885 

Full  equal  suffrage  and  eligibility  November  5th,  1912 

Number  of  women  eligible  to  vote,  about  50,000 


OREGON 

Male 

Female 

Total 

384,265 

288,500 

672,765 

Population,  1910 

Woman  suffrage  for  School  Trustees  and  School 

Taxes  1878 

Suffrage  and  eligibility  to  School  Boards  for  women  1898 

Full  equal  suffrage  and  eligibility  Nov.  5th,  1912 

Number  of  women  eligible  to  vote,  about  180,000 

Legislation.     In  1913,  the  minimum  wage  bill,  the  widows' 
pension  bill,  and  the  teacher's  civil  service  bill  was  passed. 


ALASKA  TERRITORY 

Population,  1910  64,356 

Full  equal  suffrage  1913 

Number  of  women  eligible  to  vote  4,000 


i826  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

FACTS   CONCERNING  THE   STATE   HAVING 
LIMITED  SUFFRAGE 

ILLINOIS 

Males  Females  Total 

Population,  1910  2,911,674        2,726,917        5,638,591 

School  eligibility  1873 

Limited  school  suffrage  1891 

Limited  elective  franchise  1913 

Number  of  women  eligible  to  vote,  about                   1,125,000 


*THE    BILL    GRANTING    LIMITED    SUFFRAGE    TO 
THE  WOMEN   OF  ILLINOIS 

48th  G.  A.— Senate  Bill  No.  63—1913 

A  BILL 

For  an  Act  granting  women  the  right  to  vote  for  presidential 
electors  and  certain  other  officers,  and  to  participate  and  vote 
in  certain  matters  and  elections. 

Section  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  People  of  the  State  of 
Illinois,  represented  in  the  General  Assembly:  That  all 
women,  citizens  of  the  United  States,  above  the  age  of  21 
years,  having  resided  in  the  State  one  year,  in  the  county 
ninety  days,  and  in  the  election  district  thirty  days  next 
preceding  any  election  therein,  shall  be  allov^ed  to  vote  at 
such  election  for  Presidential  Electors,  member  of  the  State 
Board  of  Equalization,  Clerk  of  the  Appellate  Court,  County 
Collector,  County  Surveyor,  members  of  Board  of  Assessors, 
members  of  Board  of  Review,  Sanitary  District  Trustees,  and 
for  all  officers  of  cities,  villages  and  towns  (except  police 
magistrates),    and   upon   all    questions    or  propositions   sub- 


*  Bill  was  introduced  February  11,  1913,  passed  June  11,  1913,  and 
became  a  law  July  1,  1913. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1827 

mitted  to  a  vote  of  the  electors  of  such  municipalities  or 
other  political  divisions  of  this  State. 

Sec.  2.  All  such  women  may  also  vote  for  the  following 
township  officers:  Supervisors,  Town  Clerk,  Assessor,  Col- 
lector and  Highway  Commissioner,  and  may  also  participate 
and  vote  in  all  annual  and  special  town  meetings  in  the  town- 
ship in  which  such  election  district  shall  be. 

Sec.  3.  Separate  ballot  boxes  and  ballots  shall  be  provided 
for  women  which  ballots  shall  contain  the  names  of  the 
candidates  for  such  offices  which  are  to  be  voted  for  and  the 
special  questions  submitted  as  aforesaid,  and  the  ballots  cast 
by  women  shall  be  canvassed  with  the  other  ballots  cast  for 
such  officers  and  on  such  questions.  At  any  such  election 
where  registration  is  required,  women  shall  register  in  the 
same  manner  as  male  voters. 


LIST  OF  CHIEF  OFFICES  FOR  WHICH  WOMEN  IN 
ILLINOIS  MAY  AND  MAY  NOT  VOTE 

May  vote  for  these  (created  by  statute):  National — Presi- 
dential electors.  State — University  trustees.  County — Col- 
lector, surveyor,  members  board  of  assessors,  members  board 
of  review,  sanitary  district  trustees.  Cities — Mayor,  alder- 
men, city  clerk,  city  treasurer,  city  attorney.  Villages — Pres- 
ident village  board,  members  board  of  trustees,  village  clerk, 
village  treasurer.  Townships — Supervisor,  town  clerk,  high- 
way commissioner,  assessors,  collectors.  Bonds  and  Little 
Ballot — On  all  propositions  or  questions  submitted  to  vote  to 
electors  of  municipalities  or  other  political  division. 

May  not  vote  for  these  (created  by  Constitution):  United 
States  Senate,  members  of  Congress,  members  of  Legislature, 
governor,  lieutenant  governor,  secretary  of  State,  State  au- 
ditor of  public  accounts.  State  treasurer,  superintendent  of 
public  instruction,  attorney  general,  judges  of  Supreme,  Ap- 
pellate, Circuit,  Superior,  Probate  and  Criminal  Courts  and 
clerks  of  these  courts;  justices  of  the  peace  and  police  mag- 


1 828  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

istrates,  constables.  State's  attorney,  county  commissioners, 
county  judge,  county  clerk,  sheriff,  county  treasurer,  coroner, 
recorder  of  deeds. 


CANADA 

Males 

Females 

Total 

3.821,050 

3,383,742 

7,204,772 

Population,  1911 

Municipal  suffrage  granted  to  women  in — 

Ontario  1884       British  Columbia  1888 

New  Brunswick  1886       Prince  Edward  Island      1888 

Nova  Scotia  1887       Quebec  1892 

Manitoba  1888 

Women  have  School  Suffrage  wherever  it  exists  through- 
out Canada,  and  have  eligibility  except  in  Quebec. 
School  suffrage  granted  to  women: 

British  Columbia  1891    Prince  Edward  Island       1899 

School  eligibility  granted: 

British  Columbia  1891       Nova  Scotia  1895 

New  Brunswick  1893       Prince  Edward  Island      1899 

(compulsory  in  1896) 

County  Council  suffrage  for  women  in  New  Brunswick 

since  1886 

BRITISH  HONDURAS 

Males      Females       Total 
Population  29,374        20,084        40,458 

Municipal  suffrage  for  women  in  capital  town  of  Belize     1911 


*   <    1      t    t 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  i8.-^i 

EUROPE 
SCANDINAVIA 

FINLAND 

Population   according   to    the   last   census    (.1909),    3,059,324. 

Alen.  1,520.810;  Women,  1,538,514. 
Communal  franchise  (rural),  without  eligibility  for 

women  1863 

Communal  franchise  (urban),  without  eligibility  for 

women  1872 

Political  franchise  and  eligibility  for  women  1907 


Number 

of  Those 

Number  of 

Percentage  of 

Qualified  to  Vote. 

Votes  Recorded. 

Votes  Recorded. 

I'par. 

Men. 

Women. 

Men.           Women. 

Men.  Women. 

1907 

606,802 

666,071 

No  figures  recorded. 

1908 

604,315 

664,862 

416,873          401,194 

68.9          60.3 

1909 

623,202 

681,888 

439,347          412,780 

70.5          60.5 

1910 

631.615 

693.316 

409,886          386,683 

64.9          55.8 

1911 

612,811 

707,247 

419.491          387,603 

65.3          54.8 

Bills  and  Petitions 

Introduced  by  Number  of  Bills  and  Petitions  Brought  Into 

Women  Deputies  the  Provincial  Diet  in  the  Years 
Relating  to 

1907,   1908  I.  1908  11.   1909  II.  1910.  1911.  1907-11. 

Rights   of   Women..    8  11            12              9  6            5         51 

Welfare  of  Children  10  8              7              5  1            2          33 
Social,  Church  and 

Economic    Quest's  4  16            18            15  13          14          20 

Supreme   Court 1  113 

Total    22  35            37            30  21         22       167 


NORWAY 

Population,  2,391,782.    Men,  1,155,773;  Women,  1,236,009. 

School  vote  and  eligibility  granted  to  women  1889 

Communal  vote  and  eligibility  granted  to  women  1901 
Vote  and  eligibility  for  the  legislation  granted  to 

women  1907 

Full  suffrage  1913 


1832  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

SWEDEN 

Population,  5,521,943.     Men,  2,698,975;  Women,  2,822,968. 
Communal  franchise  without  eligibility  for  unmar- 
ried women  1862 
School  Board  franchise  for  women  1862 
Ecclesiastical  franchise  for  women  1862 
School  Board  and  Poor  Law  Relief  Committee  eligi- 
bility for  women  1889 
Eligibility    of   Women   to    Communal   and   Church 

Councils  1909 

DENMARK 

Population,  2,757,076.     Men,  1,337,900;  Women,  1,419.176. 
Poor  Law  Boards  franchise  and  eligibility  for  women      1907 
Communal  Franchise  and  Eligibility  for  women  1908 

ICELAND 

Population,  85,188.     Men,  41,083;  Women,  44,105. 

Communal  and  ecclesiastical  franchise  for  unmar- 
ried women  1882 

Communal  and  ecclesiastical  franchise  and  eligi- 
bility for  women  (married  or  unmarried)  in 
Reykjavik  and   Hafnarfjordur  1908 

Franchise   and   eligibility   for   all    local   bodies    for 

women   (married  or  unmarried)  1909 

ISLE  OF  MAN 

Males      Females       Total 
Population,   1911  23,953        28,081         52,034 

This  small  island  lying  equidistant  from  England,  Scotland 
and  Ireland  has  a  legislative  body  of  its  own,  the  House  of 
Keys,  for  which  the  right  to  vote  was  granted  to  women 
owners  in  1881  and  extended  to  women  ratepayers  in  1892. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1833 

THE  UNITED  KINGDOM  OF  GREAT  BRITAIN  AND 

IRELAND 

Males  Females  Total 

Population,  1911  22,012,872        23,352,727        45,365,599 

England  and  Wales 

Males  Females  Total 

Population,  1911  17,448.476         18,626,793        36,075,269 

Poor  Law  Guardians  to  be  elected  by  ratepayers  1834 

Municipal  suffrage,  but  not  eligibilitj^  provided  for 
qualified  women.  Municipal  Corporation  Elec- 
tions Act  (32  and  33  Vic.  c.  55)  1869 

School  Board  suffrage  and  eligibility  for  qualified 
unmarried  women  for  the  new  established 
School  Boards.  The  Education  Act,  1870  (33 
and  34  Vict.  c.  75.).  Right  to  sit  as  elected 
members  taken  away  in  1902  when  the  duties 
of  School  Boards  were  handed  over  to  the 
County  Councils,  to  which  women  could  not  be 
elected.     Education  Act,   1902  1870 

Woman  elected  as  a  Poor  Law  Guardian  for  the 

first  time  1875 

County  Council  suffrage  (including  that  for  the 
London  County  Council)  but  not  eligibility, 
provided  for  qualified  unmarried  women  in  the 
Act  establishing  these  bodies  (51  and  52  Vic. 
c.  41)  1888 

Urban  and  Rural  District  Council  suffrage  and 
eligibility  for  qualified  women,  married  or  un- 
married, by  the  Act  establishing  these  bodies. 
The  Act  further  removes  the  disability  of  mar- 
ried women  to  vote  for  Poor  Law  Guardians, 
deprives  women  of  the  right  to  vote  as  owners 
and  provides  that,  in  addition  to  the  electors, 
residents  shall  also  be  eligible  for  election  (56 
and  57  Vict.  c.  73)  1894 

15 


i834  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

London  Borough  Councils  substituted  for  London 
Vestries  and  women  lose  their  right  to  sit  but 
not  their  right  to  vote  by  the  London  Govern- 
ment Act,   1899  1899 

London  County  Council  suffrage  disability  of  mar- 
ried women  removed  by  the  London  County 
Council  Electors  Act   (63  and  64  Vict.  c.  29)  1900 

Town  Council,  County  Council  (including  the  Lon- 
don County  Council)  and  London  Borough 
Council  eligibility  conferred  on  women  by  the 
Qualification  of  Women  Act,  1907  (7  Ed.  VIL 
c.  33)  1907 

Scotland 

Males  Females  Total 

Population,  1911  2,307,60o        2,451,842        4.759,445 

School  Board  suffrage  and  eligibility  provided  for 
qualified  women  for  these  newly  established 
bodies  by  the  Education  (Scotland)  Act,  1872 
(35  and  36  Vict.  c.  62)  1872 

Town  Council  suffrage,  but  not  eligibility,  provided 
for  qualified  unmarried  women  by  the  Munic- 
ipal Electors  (Scotland)  Act,  1881  1881 

County  Council  suffrage,  but  not  eligibility,  pro- 
vided for  qualified  unmarried  women,  when 
these  bodies  were  established  by  the  Local  Gov- 
ernment (Scotland)  Act,  1889  (52  and  53  Vic. 
c.  50)  1889 

Parish  Council  suffrage  and  eligibility  provided  for 
qualified  women,  married  or  unmarried,  when 
these  bodies  were  established  in  place  of  the 
old  Parochial  Boards  by  the  Local  Govern- 
ment (Scotland)  Act.  1894  (57  and  58  Vic.  c. 
58).  These  bodies  act  as  Poor  Law  Guardians 
and  correspond  to  the  Boards  of  Guardians 
and  District  Councils  of  England,  Wales  and 
Ireland  1894 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1835 

Town  Council  suffrage  disability  of  married  women 

removed  by  the  Town  Council  (Scotland)  Act, 
1900  (63  \'ic.  c.  49)  1900 

Town  and  County  Council  eligibility  provided  for 
qualified  women,  married  or  unmarried,  by  the 
Local  Government  (Scotland)  Acts,  1907  (7 
Ed.  VII.  c.  4  and  c.  48)  1907 

Ireland 

Alales  Females  Total 

Population,  1911  2.186,804        2,195,147        4,381,951 

Poor  Law  Guardians  to  be  elected  by  ratepayers 
bv  the  Poor  Law  Guardian  (Ireland)  Act  (1 
and  2  Vic.  c.  56)  1837 

Belfast  Town  Council  suffrage  granted  to  qualified 

women  by  a  local  Act  1887 

Town  Council  suffrage  granted  to  qualified  women 
to  the  Councils  of  Blackrock  and  Kingston  by 
local  Acts  1894 

Poor  Law  Guardian  suffrage  and  eligibility  pro- 
vided for  qualified  unmarried  women  (59  and 
60  Vic.  c.  5)  1896 

County  Councils,  Town  Councils  and  District  (both 
Urban  and  Rural)  Councils  established;  suffrage 
for  qualified  women,  married  or  unmarried, 
provided  for  these  Councils  and  for  Boards  of 
Guardians;  eligibility  for  men  or  women,  who 
are  electors  or  residents,  provided  for  the  Dis- 
trict Councils  but  women  not  made  eligible 
for  election  to  Town  or  County  Councils. 
Registration  (Ireland)  Act,  1898,  Local  Gov- 
ernment (Ireland)  Act,  1898,  and  Adaptation 
Order,  December  22nd,  1898  1898 

Town  Council  and  County  Council  eligibility  for 
qualified  women,  married  or  unmarried,  pro- 
vided by  the  Local  Authorities  (Ireland)  Quali- 
fication of  Women  Act,  1911  1911 


1836  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

OTHER  GERMANIC  COUNTRIES 

GERMAN  EMPIRE 

Population  (according  to  the  census  of  1910),  64,903,423. 
Men,  32,031,967;  Women,  32,871,456. 
Communal  Franchise.  In  several  German  States  women 
are  allowed  a  very  restricted  vote  for  the  representation  of 
rural  communes.  As  a  rule  they  can  only  vote  by  proxy. 
In  1912,  a  ruling  was  made  whereby  married  women  under 
certain  circumstances  are  allowed  to  vote.     No  eligibility. 

AUSTRIA 

Population,  28,571,934.     Men,   14,034,022;   Women,   14,537,912. 

Suffrage  for  Provincial  Diet  to  tax-paying  women,  who  are 
large  landed  proprietors.     As  a  rule  they  vote  by  proxy. 

Very  limited  communal  vote  in  some  provinces.  No  com- 
munal eligibility. 

BOHEMIA 

Population,  6,769,548.     Men,  3.307,633;  Women,  3,461,855. 
The    franchise    and    eligibility    for    women    for    the 

Provincial  Diet  1861 

Communal  franchise  for  women  except  in  Prague  in 

Reinchenberg  1864 

NETHERLANDS 

Population,  5,945,155.     Men,  2,944,079;  Women,  3,001,076. 

Communal  franchise.  The  women  of  Holland  are  at  pres- 
ent as  totally  excluded  from  any  share  in  local  government 
as  they  are  from  the  political  franchise. 

SWITZERLAND 

Population,  1910,  3,741,971. 

Women  do  not  possess  any  electoral  rights  either  in  the 
Commune  or  in  the  State. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1837 


THE  LATIN  COUNTRIES 

FRANCE 

Population,  1911  36,601,509 

Votes  and  Eligibility.  French  women  are  still  excluded 
from  all  forms  of  political  election.  They,  however,  have 
some  voting  rights,  and,  in  certain  cases,  are  eligible  for 
election. 

They  have  forms  of  suffrage  in  education,  employment. 
Council  of  Experts,  Commerce,  Church  and  Mutual  Insur- 
ance. They  are  eligible  for  appointment  to  the  Poor  Law 
Relief  Councils,  School  Committees,  and  Charity  Commit- 
tees. 

BELGIUM 

Population,  1910  (estimated  December  31st,  1910)      6,693,584 

Votes  and  Eligibility.  Belgian  women  have  no  suflfrage 
rights,  except  for  the  Councils  of  E.xperts  (Conseils  Des 
Prud'Hommes),  for  which  they  gained  the  vote  and  eligibility 
in  1909. 

The  Political  Vote.  The  Communal  Vote,  which  women 
had  when  Belgium  and  Holland  were  united,  was  taken  from 
them  when  these  countries  separated. 

ITALY 

Population,   1911  34,687,000 

Franchise.  Italian  women  acquired  the  right  to  vote  for 
Councils  of  Experts  (Consiels  de  Prudhommes)  in  1907,  and 
for  Councils  of  the  Chambers  of  Commerce,  in  1912. 

Eligibility.  Women  have  been  eligible  to  Poor  Law  Re- 
lief Committees  (Commissions  d'Assistance),  since  1890;  to 
Commercial  Courts  (Tribinaux  de  Commerce),  since  1893; 
and  to  School  Committees,  since   1907. 


1838  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

SPAIN 

Population,  1910  19,588,688 

No  women  sufifrage  movement  has  yet  arisen  in  Spain, 
not  that  the  women  take  no  interest  in  social  questions,  but 
because  the  majority  of  Spanish  women  who  do  take  part  in 
politics  are  free-thinkers.  They  wish  first  of  all  to  oppose 
clericalism  and  to  establish  secular  education. 


PORTUGAL 

Population,  5,975,000. 

The  suffrage  movement  in  Portugal  is  closely  connected 
with  the  political  situation  m  that  country.  The  woman's 
movement  was  in  its  infancy  when  the  leaders  of  the  Repub- 
lican Party  made  an  appeal  to  the  women  to  come  to  their 
help  in  overthrowing  the  monarchy.  The  Republican  League 
of  Portuguese  Women  was  founded,  and  was  recognized  as 
a  political  organization.  This  league  played  an  important 
part  in  the  establishing  of  the  republic.  The  reward  for 
their  work  was  to  be  the  political  franchise.  It  caused  both 
surprise  and  disappointment  when  the  Franchise  Bill  brought 
in  in  1911  excluded  the  women.  Last  year  the  senate  adopted 
a  bill  conferring  suffrage  on  all  women  over  25  on  an  edu- 
cational basis,  but  this  has  not  been  acted  upon  by  the  lower 
house. 

THE  SLAVONIC  COUNTRIES 

RUSSIA 

Total  European 

Population,  1910  163,778,800         118,690,600 

Municipal  and  Administrative  Vote.  Women  do  not  them- 
selves vote  either  for  the  Municipal  Councils  or  for  the  Pro- 
vincial Councils  (zemstvo),  but  those  who  pay  the  land  tax 
according  to  the  conditions  applicable  in  each  province  have, 
since  1866,  had  the  right  to  vote  by  proxy  through  their  hus- 
bands, brothers,  sons,  grandsons,  or  sons-in-law. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1839 

In  the  elections  of  the  nobility  a  woman  of  the  nobility- 
may  appoint  as  her  proxy  a  man  of  the  nobility  of  the  same 
district. 

For  the  management  of  schools  there  are   several  bodies. 

1.  School  Boards  have  admitted  women  on  the  same 
terms  as  men  as  managers  since  1874.  Both  men  and  women 
managers  have  the  right  to  vote  on  questions  concerning 
their  school. 

2.  Committees  set  up  by  social,  municipal  or  provincial 
(zemstvo)  organizations  have  the  power  to  consult  experts 
of  either  sex  and  are  as  follows: 

(a)  Preparatory   Comrfiittees   in   which   both   men   and 

women  have  the  same  right  of  voting. 

(b)  Executive  Committees  on  which  only  the  members 

(municipal  or  provincial)   take  part. 

(c)  Medical  Committees  of  the  province  (zemstvo)   on 

which  women  doctors  have  the  same  rights  as 
men.  This  is  true  also  of  the  towns,  but  there 
are  very  few  municipal  medical  committees. 

Public  Poor  Relief  Committees  do  not  exist.  There  are, 
however,  private  philanthropic  bodies,  whose  object  is  to 
help  the  poor,  and  whose  members,  men  and  women,  have 
the  same  rights. 

Women  have  no  votes  for  members  of  the  Committees 
which  impose  the  taxes. 

Political  Vote.  For  the  legislature  (Douma  Imperiale) 
women  may  not  vote  in  person  but  may  appoint  as  their 
proxies  to  vote  for  them  their  husbands,  brothers,  sons, 
grandsons,  or  sons-in-law. 

BULGARIA 

Population,  1910  4,329,108 

Eligibility.  In  1908,  Bulgarian  women  were  made  eligible 
for  appointment  to  School  Councils,  the  bodies  which  ap- 
point both  the  men  and  the  women  teachers  of  the  primary 
schools.     This  is  the  one  victory  in  Bulgaria. 


1840  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

Suffrage  Propaganda.  Several  different  feminist  societies, 
founded  after  1889,  combined  in  1900,  to  form  the  Union  of 
Bulgarian  women,  which  became  an  auxiliary  of  the  Inter- 
national Woman  Suffrage  Alliance  in  1908.  At  a  Congress 
held  in  1908  it  decided  to  work  for  the  municipal  franchise 
and  instructed  its  Executive  to  organize  a  campaign. 

SERVIA 

Males  Females  Total 

Population,  1910  1,503,511         1,408,190        2,911,701 

Woman  Suffrage  has  been  discussed  in  Servia  for  many 
years.  In  1902,  the  Senate  voted  in  favor  of  a  bill  conferring 
votes  on  women,  but  the  tragic  events  immediately  following 
prevented  the  ultimate  adoption  of  the  reform.  It  was  not 
until  1909  that  an  Association  for  Woman  Suffrage  was 
founded.  Its  activities  have  been  compulsorily  in  abeyance 
for  several  months  (1913).  The  political  parties  seem  to  be 
all  in  favor  of  votes  for  women. 


OTHER  EUROPEAN  COUNTRIES 
HUNGARY 

Population,  20,886,487.  Men,  10,345,333;  Women,  10,541,154. 
Communal  Franchise.  In  Hungary  a  woman  who  is  of 
age,  unmarried,  a  widow,  or  legally  separated  from  her  hus- 
band, possesses  the  active,  indirect  communal  franchise  on  a 
property  basis.  That  is  to  say  she  can  vote,  but  not  in  per- 
son, only  by  means  of  a  male  proxy. 

ROUMANIA 

Estimated  Population,  1910  6,966,000 

Administrative  Committees.  Women  have  voted  for 
School  Committees  since  1891,  but  possess  no  other  electoral 
right. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1841 

Poor  Relief  is  not  nationally  organized,  but  women  play 
an  important  part  in  the  administration  of  private  charities 
for  the  relief  of  the  poor. 

Political  Vote.  The  question  of  woman  suffrage  has  hardly 
arisen  in  Roumania.  The  Socialist  Party,  which  stands  for 
adult  suffrage,  is  the  only  one  which  recognizes  the  principle 
of  the  political  equality  of  the  sexes. 


TURKEY— GREECE— MONTENEGRO 

Population: 

Turkey   in    Europe  (mainland    only)                           6,130,200 

Greece   (1907)  2,631,952 

Montenegro  250,000 

Turkish  women  have  no  voting  rights. 

It  has  not  been  possible  to  get  any  definite  information  re- 
garding Greece  and  Montenegro. 


AUSTRALIA  AND  NEW  ZEALAND 

NEW  ZEALAND 
Population,  1911 


Males 

Females 

Total 

1.  Excluding  Maories 

531,910 

476,558 

1,008,468 

2.  Maories 

28,475 

23,369 

49,844 

School  Board  suffrage  and  eligibility  granted  to  women  1877 
Municipal   suffrage   and   eligibility   granted   to   women 

ratepayers  1886 

Municipal    suffrage    and    eligibility    extended    to    the 

wives  and  husbands  of  ratepayers  1899 

Parliamentary  suffrage,  but  not  eligibility,  granted  to 

women  by  the  Electoral  Act,  1893  1893 

Number  of  women  qualified  to  vote  and  voting. — Number  of 
women  qualified  to  vote  is  almost  as  great  as  the  men.  (See 
table,  page  1842.) 


1842 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 


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WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1843 

COMMONWEALTH  OF  AUSTRALIA 

Males         Females        Total 

Population,  April  3,  1911  2,313,035       2,141,970      4,455,005 

Women  granted  suffrage  and  eligibility  both  for  the 
Senate  and  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
Federal  Commonwealth  Parliament,  on  the  same 
terms  as  men  1902 

SOUTH   AUSTRALIA 

Males       Females       Total 
Population,  April  3,  1911  207,358      201,200      408,558 

Municipal  suffrage,  but  not  eligibility,  granted  to 
women  1880 

School  Boards  of  advice  are  elected  by  the  parents  of 
children  at  school,  one  vote  being  given  to  each 
household,  which  may  be  cast  by  either  the  father 
or  mother  1892 

Destitute    Boards    are    nominated    bodies,    on    which 

women  have  been  placed  since  1897 

The  franchise  and  eligibility  for  the  South  Australian 
Legislative  Assembly  and  the  franchise  but  not  eligi- 
bility for  the  Legislative  Council  granted  to  women 
on  the  same  terms  as  to  men  by  the  Constitutional 
Amendment  Act  •  1894 

WESTERN  AUSTRALIA 

Males       Females       Total 
Population,  April  3,  1911  161,565       120,549      282,114 

Municipal  franchise  granted  to  women,  but  not  eligi- 
bility 1871 

The  franchise  but  not  eligibility  for  the  Western  Aus- 
tralian Legislative  Council  and  Legislative  Assembly 
granted  to  women  on  the  same  terms  as  to  men  1899 


i844  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

NEW  SOUTH  WALES 

Males       Females       Total 
Population,  April  3,  1911  857,698       789,036       1,646,734 

Municipal    suffrage     but     not    eligibility     granted     to 

women  1867 

Suffrage  for  the  New  South  Wales  Legislative  Assem- 
bly granted  to  women  on  the  same  terms  as  to  men 
by  the  Women's  Franchise  Act,  1902,  but  not  eligi- 
bility 1902 
The  Legislative  Council  is  nominated,  not  elected. 
The   Local   Government   Shires   Act,    1905,    establishes 
Shire    Councils    with    votes   and   eligibility    for   both 
men  and  women                                                                          1905 
The    Local    Government    Act,    1906    (a    consolidating 
Act),  provides  that  women  as  well  as  men   shall  be 
eligible  to  vote  for  Shire  and  Town  Councils.     Males 
only  are  made  eligible  to  be  elected,   so  apparently 
women  lost  their  right  of  eligibility  to   Shire   Coun- 
cils  acquired  in   1905.      Husband  and   wife   may  not 
vote  in  respect  of  the  same  property                                   1906 

TASMANIA 

Males     Females     Total 
Population,  April  3,  1911  97,591       93,620       191,211 

Women   granted  the   vote   but  not   eligibility  to   AIu- 

nicipal  Councils  1884 

The  franchise  but  not  eligibility  granted  to  women  for 
the   Tasmanian   Legislative   Council   and   Legislative 

Assembly  on  the  same  terms  as  men  by  the  Consti- 
tution Act,  1903  1903 

QUEENSLAND 

Males  Females       Total 

Population,  April  3,  1911                    329,506  276,307      605,813 

Municipal    franchise    but    not    eligibility  for    women 

established  1886 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1845 

The  franchise  but  not  eligibility  for  the  Queensland 
Legislative  Assembly  granted  to  women  by  the 
Elections  Act,  1905  1905 

The  members  of  the  Legislative  Council  are  nominated 
for  life. 

VICTORIA 

Males       Females       Total 
Population,  April  3,  1911  655,591       659,960       1,315,551 

Women   granted  the  franchise  but  not  eligibility   for 

Municipal  Councils,  Boroughs  Statute  Act,  1869  1869 

Franchise  but  not  eligibility  granted  to  women  for  the 
Victorian  Legislative  Council  and  Legislative  As- 
sembly by  the  Adult  Suffrage  Act,  1908  1908 


ASIA 

BURMAH 

Population,  1911  12,115,217 

Municipal  suffrage,  but  not  eligibility  for  women  1884 

INDIA 

Population  244,267,901 

Mrs.  Catt  reports  that  a  considerable  number  of  Parsee, 
Hindu,  and  Mohammedan  women  have  voted  in  Bombay  in 
respect  to  the  Municipal  Council. 

JAVA 

Population,  1910  30,098,008 

Women  landowners  have  some  municipal  suflfrage. 

CHINA 
Population  433,533,030 

The  women  of  Canton  Province  have  voted  for  their  Pro- 
visional Assembly,  but  not  those  of  any  other  province. 


1846  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

AFRICA 

THE  UNION  OF  SOUTH  AFRICA 

Males  Females  Total 

Population,  1911  3,069,610        2,888,889        5,958,499 

Transvaal 

The  Volksrad  gave  votes  to  burghers'  wives  1854 

Women  granted  votes,  but  excluded  from  eligi- 
bility, for  Town  Councils  on  the  same  terms 
as  men,  viz.,  that  they  are  white  British  sub- 
jects owning  rateable  property  of  assessed 
value  of  £100  or  occupying  rateable  property 
of  the  assessed  value  of  £24  (Municipal  Elec- 
tions Ordinance  No.  38,  1903).  Husband  and 
wife  may  not  be  enrolled  in  respect  of  the 
same  property.  1903 

White  women  granted  eligibility  but  not  the  vote 
for  School  Boards,  if  residents  (Act  25  of 
1907)  1907 

Cape  Colony 

Women  granted  the  vote  for  Town  Councils  on 
the  same  terms  as  men,  viz.,  one  vote  to  the 
owner  or  occupier  of  property  of  the  annual 
value  of  £10,  two  votes  if  the  property  is 
over  £100.  1882 

Women  granted  the  vote  for  School  Boards,  in 
towns  on  the  same  basis  as  the  municipal 
vote;  in  the  country  on  a  property  qualifi- 
cation, with  a  provision  that  women  rate- 
payers vote  if  they  occupy  as  well  as  own 
their  house.     Eligibility  also  granted.  1906 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1847 

Natal 

Women  granted  eligibility  to  sit  on  School 
Boards,  and  to  vote  as  proxies  for  absent 
male  parent.  The  electors  are  parents  of  chil- 
dren attending  the  Government  School.  1910 

Orange  River  Colony 

Resident  Householders  are  qualified  to  vote  for, 
and  resident  voters  owning  immovable  prop- 
erty of  £200  or  occupying  such  property  of 
i600  are  qualified  to  be  elected  to  Municipal 
Councils  (Municipal  Corporations  Act,  No.  6, 
1904).  1904 

Parents  of  children  attending  a  Public  School  are 
qualified  to  vote  for  and  white  persons  resi- 
dent within  the  School  district  are  eligible  to 
be  elected  to  School  Management  Commit- 
tees (Education  Act,  35  of  1908).  1908 

Numbers    eligible    to    vote    for    Town    Councils.      As    the 

qualification  as  voters  is  in  every  case  based  on  property 
the  number  of  women  relatively  to  men  is  small.  Pretoria 
may  be  taken  as  a  typical  case.  There  the  number  of 
women  on  the  municipal  voters'  roll  for  1911  was  540  out  of 
a  total  of  6,012  or  something  less  than  10  per  cent.  No 
figures  are  available  of  the  number  of  those  who  voted. 

SUMMARY 

In  summing  up  the  rights  already  gained  in  connection 
with  parliamentarj'  and  municipal  elections  leaving  out  of 
account  the  extremely  limited  franchises  enjoyed  by  women 
in  Russia,  the  German  Empire,  Austria  and  Bohemia,  the 
franchises  of  the  women  of  Java  and  of  the  Isle  of  Man,  the 
following  results  are  reached. 

The  lead  is  being  given  by  the  English-speaking  and  the 
Scandinavian  countries.     The  right  to  vote  for  members  of 


1848  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

town  councils  has  been  gained  by  women  in  39  States  or 
Countries  (11  during  the  present  century)  of  which  32  are 
English-speaking,  5  Scandinavian  and  2  Asiatic:  the  right  to 
be  elected  to  town  councils  by  18  (13  during  the  present 
century),  of  which  14  are  English-speaking  and  4  Scandi- 
navian: the  right  to  vote  for  members  of  Parliament  (the 
legislature)  in  19  States  or  Countries  (12  during  the  present 
century)  of  which  17  are  English-speaking  and  2  Scandi- 
navian: the  right  to  be  elected  to  the  Parliament  or  Legis- 
lature in  13  (8  during  the  present  century),  of  which  13  are 
English-speaking  and  2  Scandinavian.  In  the  United  States 
the  rights  to  vote  and  sit  in  connection  with  the  local  State 
Legislature  carry  with  them  the  corresponding  rights  with 
respect  to  the  federal  legislature.  In  Australia  women  have 
gained  the  right  to  vote  for  and  eligibility  to  be  elected 
to  the  Federal  Parliament  in  addition  to  the  rights  they  have 
gained  for  the  separate  State  Parliaments. 

MISCELLANEOUS  FACTS  AND  FIGURES  CONCERN- 
ING  EQUAL   SUFFRAGE 

Disenfranchised  Classes  in  the  United  States 

1.  Unnaturalized  men. 

2.  Men  who  cannot  read  English  in  Massachusetts. 

3.  Untaxed    Indians. 

4.  Duellists. 

5.  Fraudulent  voters. 

6.  Negroes  in  some  southern  States. 

7.  Convicts. 

8.  Idiots. 

9.  Women. 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  1849 

Organized  Demand  for  Suffrage 

In  1894  600,000  men  and  women  petitioned  New  York 
Constitutional  Convention  for  woman  suffrage. 

There  is  a  laryer  organized  demand  for  Woman  Suffrage 
than  for  any  other  one  social  reform,  whereas  the  organized 
opposition — aside  from  that  of  the  vicious  interests — is 
practically  negligible.  There  are  now  in  this  country  more 
than  1,500  suffrage  organizations,  in  some  of  which  the  reg- 
istered membership  runs  as  high  as  50,000.  In  the  National 
American  Woman  Suffrage  Association  there  are  forty-five 
branches  organized  in  thirty-eight  states  and  having  approxi- 
mately 47,000  dues-paying  members  and  171,000  registered 
members.  There  are  nine  periodicals  devoted  exclusively  to 
suffrage  propaganda.  In  1912  the  National  American  Woman 
Suffrage  Association  circulated  some  three  million  pieces  of 
literature. 

Equal  suffrage  has  a  large  and  widespread  body  of  organ- 
ized support  outside  the  suffrage  movement.  Approximately 
600  organizations,  other  than  suffrage  associations — state, 
national  and  international — aggregating  approximately  50,- 
000,000  members,  have  voted  to  give  the  full  weight  of  their 
official  support  to  securing  the  enfranchisement  of  women. 
Among  these  are  the  International  Congress  of  Women,  the 
World's  W.  C.  T.  U.,  the  National  Grange,  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor,  the  National  Women's  Trade  Union 
League,  the  National  Educational  Association  and  many  of 
the   State   Federations  of  women's   clubs. 

Number  of  Men  Who  Vote 

Large  numbers  of  men  are  utterly  indifferent  to  their 
rights  as  voters.  In  the  presidential  election  of  1908  the 
total  vote  cast  was  only  14,888,442,  while  the  number  of 
men  eligible  to  vote  was  fully  22,000,000.  The  popular 
vote  for  president  in  1912  was  15,941,658,  or  about  one  in 
six  of  the  population.  In  1910,  there  were  26,999,151  males 
of  voting  age,  21  years  of  age  and  over,  including  6,829,581 
of  foreign  birth,  naturalized  and  unnaturalized.  In  most 
states  in  the  union  only  about  60  to  65  per  cent  of  the  men 
vote. 


1850  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

Number    of  Women   of  Voting   Age   in    Suffrage    States   in 
United  States,  Census  1910 

Arizona  43,891       Oregon   168,323 

California    671,386       Utah   85,729 

Colorado   213,425       Washington  211,111 

Idaho 69,818       Wyoming  28,840 

Kansas  438,934       Alaska    11,087 

Qualifications  based    upon  naturalization,  education,  length 
of  residence,  etc.,  not  considered  in  these  figures. 

WOMEN  AND  EMPLOYMENT 

Occupations  in  the  United  States,  Census  1910 

Class  of  Occupations                   Male  Female  Total 

yVgricultural   Pursuits 9,404,429  977,336  10,381,765 

Professional    Service 827,941  430,597  1,258,538 

Domestic  and  Personal  Service  3,485,208  2.095,449  5,580,657 

Trade  and  Transportation 4,263,617  503,347  4,766,964 

Manufacturing  and  Mechanical 
Pursuits  5,772,641     1,312,668      7,085,309 


Total  employed 23,753,836     5,319,397     29,073,233 

Women  in  United  States,  Census  1910 

Women  Teachers  and  Professors 327,625 

Women  Physicians  and  Surgeons 7,399 

Women  Trade  and  Transportation 481.158 

Women  Agricultural  Pursuits 770,055 

Women  Clerks,   Accountants,   Stenographers 239,077 

Women  Clergymen 7,395 

Women  Lawyers    1,010 

Women  Journalists   2,193 

Women  Architects.  Designers,  Draftsmen 1,037 

Women  in  Professions 429,497 

The  four  states  that  have  laws  defining  a  closing  hour 
for  women  who  labor  are  Massachusetts,  New  York,  Indiana, 
Nebraska.  Law  has  never  been  tested  in  any  court  of  last 
resort,  State  or  Federal. 

Twenty-six  States  place  some  limit  upon  the  working  day. 
Twenty-two  have  no  closing  hour.  California,  Washington, 
and  Colorado  have  eight-hour  days. 


-:*P- 


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This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 
1  the  date  to  which  renewed, 
jocks  are  subjea  to  immediate  recall. 


JUL    7  1976 


^.^^ 


m>m,  JUNES 78 


JUL  '6  i  1^73 


REC.  CIS.    AUU  }i  J^  137:5 


APf?  1 3  1908 


[RCA    JUNO  8 


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